Prior Miscarriage Raises Risk for Low-Birthweight Infant

THURSDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Women who've had a miscarriage oran abortion are much more likely than women who haven't to experience alow-birthweight or premature baby in the future, new research shows.
A team at Virginia Commonwealth University looked at data on more than45,500 mother-and-child pairs enrolled in the United States CollaborativePerinatal Project.
About 40 percent of the mothers had one or two children, and almosttwo-thirds of the mothers were between ages 20-29. The researchers foundthat rates of low-birthweight (under 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds) andpremature babies (less than 37 weeks gestation) were highest among womenwho were black, young or old, poorly educated, and unmarried.
The study also found that women who'd had one, two, or three or moremiscarriages or abortions in the past were almost three, five and ninetimes, respectively, more likely than normal to have an underweightbaby.
Women who'd had one miscarriage or abortion were 67 percent more likelyto have a premature baby, while women who'd had three or more miscarriagesor abortions were more than three times as likely to have a prematurebaby, compared to women who hadn't had a miscarriage or an abortion.
The study is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and CommunityHealth.
The researchers noted that previous studies have been inconclusive,with some reporting no increased risk and others identifying asignificantly increased risk of low-birthweight or premature babies amongwomen who've had a miscarriage or abortion. Despite the conflictingevidence, women and doctors need to be aware of the potential risks, theauthors concluded.