Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy – What you need to know
The issue of weight gain is developing in a very high speed and it is becoming the concern of all healthcare providers globally. It has in the recent past become the obvious metabolic disease and this has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider obesity as one of the most serious global health problems of the 21st century. It is not a simple thing for the WHO to list obesity in this ranking and so we all have a duty to share and make contributions toward bring this condition to some degree of control. Therefore, what is this condition called obesity? By definition obesity is a health condition in which the accumulation of excessive body fat to an extent that is highly likely to impair health and increase morbidity and mortality. The most commonly use method of measuring obesity is body mass index (BMI) where an individual will be considered to be overweight if their BMI is between 25 and 30 kg/m2 while those with more than 30 kg/m2 are considered to be obese. In this article we are going to interrogate the effects of obesity in women who are planning to get pregnant in the future, in other words the focus of this article will be obesity before pregnancy. As we get into this discussion, I want to introduce to you one of my cherished professional dealing with issues of weight gain in the most natural way, I am talking about doctor Dalal Akoury who has been in this practice for well over 20 years and we will be making reference of her practice from time to time so that you can call her to attend to your situation.
According to WHO the prevalence of obesity in pregnancy cut across 1.8 to 25.3% with effects of obesity before and during pregnancy constituting a major risk factor for both maternal and fetal complications. While appreciating that children born of obese mothers may become obese in their childhood and develops metabolic syndrome in their adulthood, it is possible to address some of the issues relating to obesity during pregnancy since at this time mothers will be more willing to accept certain changes in their lifestyle like a well-balanced diet and bit of indulgence in physical activities, practicing this will certainly improve the fetal health. It therefore goes without saying that a well-balanced body weight at this point is very important, we will continue with this in our next article but for now let us get back to the discussion of obesity before pregnancy.
Are you planning to get Pregnant?
It is very essential that women planning to get pregnant make effort to maintain normal body weight because being obese or even being underweight has negative effects on pregnancy, these two conditions can cause a woman to have a reduced fertility in all dynamics that is to say when observed in both natural conception and conception achieved by assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs). In many instances when subfertility is observed in obese women, it is always occasioned partially due to the decrease in frequency or complete absence of ovulation.
The dominant cause of anovulation is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is characterized by central visceral obesity in 40% of the cases. Moreover, in a wider context of metabolic disorders,
- Low concentration of serum
- High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
- High concentration of triglycerides
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
- Increased concentrations of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) tend to co-exist.
All these metabolic derangements increase the risk of developing:
- Arterial hypertension
- Coronary heart disease and
- Thrombosis
In addition, hyperinsulinemia promotes the production of testosterone and Δ4-androstendione from the theca cells in the ovary and results in a condition of hyperandrogenemic anovulation, with a phenotype characterized by hirsutism, obesity, acne, seborrhoea and hair loss.
Obesity has been observed to exert a negative impact on ARTs. Specifically, obesity may adversely affect the duration of ovarian stimulation, number and quality of oocytes and embryos, fertilization rate, embryo transfer rate as well as implantation and pregnancy rates. In obese women, a longer duration of ovarian stimulation and higher doses of gonadotropins are required. Additionally, higher cancellation rates and higher incidence of follicular asynchrony are often observed. The lower number of oocytes retrieved in overweight and obese as compared to normal weight women may be due to the lower number of follicles, technical difficulties or both.
Moreover, obesity can prevent proper trans-abdominal ultrasonography imaging during embryo transfer. All these mechanisms may be responsible for the decrease in implantation and pregnancy rates in obese women undergoing ART.
There are certain important things that you need to consider when you’re planning to get pregnant, for instance emphasis needs to be out in normalizing your weight. You should neither be over or underweight because having normal weight is not only good for conception but also for the outcome of the pregnancy. While appreciating that most pregnancies are not planned it is very important that you consult a specialist on how to lose weight and calling doctor Akoury an expert in matters relating to weight and obesity will be the starting point. Remember that things are changing and the prevalence of obesity is worrying today we have established fact that weight loss before pregnancy results in a better chance for conception and increases the percentage of live births for obese women with or without PCOS.
Obesity is not an easy condition to manage and it even gets more complicated when pregnancy is involved. It is therefore very essential that obese women are fully informed about the risks of obesity and the benefits of weight loss. This valuable information will be available at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care. At this facility you will meet real expert who will attend to you professionally and help you in the management of your weight by encouraging an improved lifestyle through balanced diet and physical exercise. Besides this doctor Akoury together with her team of her experts will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. The sole objective of experts at this facility under the able leadership of doctor Akoury is to restore your self-esteem and face life positively a head of your planned pregnancy. Call now and experience the real life fulfillment thereafter.
Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy – What you need to know
