United States: Those women who have experienced general complications related to pregnancy are likely to be at risk of dying decades early.
More about the recent study
Dr. Casey Crump, the team lead, and professor of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston said, the study which was conducted on a large scale to date, “women who experienced any of five major adverse pregnancy outcomes had increased mortality risks that remained elevated more than 40 years later,” as the US News reported.
The team of Crump added, “Pregnancy has been considered a ‘natural stress test’ that may yield valuable information for understanding [women’s] future health risks.”
The study reports are published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine on April 15.
What are the findings of the research?
The probable risks that could predispose one to pregnancy complications, namely, smoking, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease could also increase overall health risks.
In the latest study, the team of Texas scientists took a look at the data on more than 2 million Swedish women who gave birth to term (singleton) babies between 1973 and 2015. Secondly, they followed-up with the same population of the women right through the 2023, when these women averaged 52 years of age.
The team was shocked to learn that a diagnosis of gestational diabetes increased a woman’s chances of mortality in the follow-up period by 52 percent when compared with the cases where diabetes did not arise while pregnant.
Also, the neonatal death risk increased by 41 percent in the case of premature delivery, according to the study results, and delivering a child who is underweight was associated with a 30 percent rise in risk.
Preeclampsia, the life-threatening condition arising in late pregnancy from a substantial rise in blood pressure, was linked with a 13 percent higher possibility of an early death, the investigators showed.
Crump noted that all the risks “remained elevated even 30 to 46 years after delivery.”
Moreover, the study scientists said that the above findings could prove beneficial for women, as “nearly 30% of all women experience an adverse pregnancy outcome during their reproductive years,” as the US News reported.
Pregnancy complications-related risks
Pregnancy complications had the effect of increasing the risk of fatalities from various disorders.
By way of instance, literally, any one of the complications caused the women’s mortality to be cardiovascular death anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 faster than the women who did not have past histories, the study identified.
The risk of dying from cancer or respiratory illnesses relative to women who delivered full-term normal babies doubled or even increased by 20% for those who were born prematurely, and their chances for death from diabetes went up by the same rate.
An increased possibility for one or more complications that could occur during pregnancy brought the already existing risks even higher.
In a woman who suffered from two or three pregnancy complications, the odds for death doubled by 56 percent and 84 percent, respectively, when compared to those whose deliveries did not show any signs of complications, indicated researchers.
This implies that primary care physicians should be informed of any pregnancy problems their patients are observed with during their next visit. Possibly, the women will get “early (preventive) actions,” and the rate of illness will be reduced, and their lives will be prolonged.