FREQUENCY OF SPONTANEOUS MISCARRIAGES IN EARLY PREGNANCY COMPARISON BETWEEN OBESE VERSUS NORMAL WEIGHT WOMEN

Background: Miscarriages are one of the most common complications of pregnancy, affecting approximately 15% of all pregnancies in the general population. It is suggested that obese women have greater risk of early miscarriage as compared to women with normal weight. This study was performed to compare the frequency of spontaneous miscarriages in early pregnancy in obese versus normal weight women. Materials and Methods: It was a prospective cohort study, conducted at the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur from July 2012 to January 2013. After taking written and informed consent from the patients meeting inclusion criteria, they were divided in two groups. In group – A, patients were obese and in group – B, age – matched and gravid – matched normal weight women. Results: A total of 206 patients were included in the study, 103 in each group. Mean age of patients was 22.52 years with standard deviation of 4.118 years. Nine primigravida had miscarriages and 11 multigravida had a miscarriage. Among these, sixteen (15.5%) patients were from group – A (obese) while 4 (3.9%) patients were group – B (normal weight) with a significant p value of 0.005. Conclusion: Obesity is associated with a higher spontaneous miscarriage in early pregnancy in women who conceive spontaneously and this is a sound reason for advocating weight reduction in overweight and obese women who are planning to have more children.