Anita S. Kale
Senior consultant, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology National University Health System, Singapore
Title: Obesity and pregnancy: A challenge for Obstetricians
Biography
Biography: Anita S. Kale
Abstract
Obesity in women has a huge impact on fertility as well as pregnancy.
It is a known fact that obesity affects fertility adversely by inhibiting ovulation. Success rate of IVF is affected by body mass index. Once pregnant, obese women have higher risk of complications like gestational diabetes, pregnancy induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia, operative as well as caesarean delivery, thromboembolism and anaesthesia related complications. Obese women with metabolic syndrome are at an especially higher risk due to worsening of hypertension and blood sugar control that often happens with pregnancy, with serious implications to the fetus like intra uterine growth restriction and iatrogenic premature delivery.
We now come across increasing number of women of reproductive age group undergoing bariatric surgery. Pregnancies in these women after having undergone bariatric surgery are of considerable interest to Obstetricians. Generally, the prevalence of pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes appears to be lower in women after bariatric surgery. There also appears to be higher prevalence of ‘small for gestation’ babies as well as babies with intrauterine growth retardation in these women. I will be talking about challenges faced while caring for obese women during pregnancy and child birth as well as managing pregnancy after bariatric surgery.