It is a known fact that women, who had gone through a number of abortions or miscarriages, are likely to face higher risk of complications on their next pregnancies. However, a new study suggests that even a single case of abortion or miscarriage can potentially affect the subsequent pregnancies of a woman, News Medical has learned.
Women with several miscarriages or abortions may experience vaginal bleeding at the early stage of their pregnancy. Moreover, they run the risk of a preterm birth, low fetal birth weight and placenta-related complications. Thus, women with a medical history of several interrupted pregnancy are advised to be extra careful to ensure a healthy, full-term pregnancy.
On the other hand, according to a research from New Tel Aviv University, women, who have experienced even a single pregnancy loss, have 30 percent risk of suffering complications on their next pregnancies compared to women who have never suffered a miscarriage or a single abortion.
The report suggests that women who have experienced a single first-trimester interruption are prone to labor inductions, cesarean sections and retained placentas.
According to FutureMedicine, more than 70 percent women who experienced miscarriage during their first pregnancy are doomed to get pregnant beyond 24 weeks. On their second pregnancy, they have a higher risk of preterm birth and perinatal death. Other complications that were inconsistently shown are pre-eclampsia and bleeding in early stages of pregnancies.
As per News Medical, the study analyzed 15,000 deliveries from Rabin Medical Center in the last five years. The researchers then compared the data from nulliparous women with primigravidas. Nulliparous women are those who have experienced a single first-trimester interruption while primigravidas are those in their first pregnancies who have not experienced any interruption or abortion prior their delivery.
However, women should not be overly worried because the same report revealed that an incident of pregnancy loss is not rare.
"It is important to emphasize that a single pregnancy loss is a very common event during a woman's reproductive years. In most cases it has no effect on future fertility or pregnancy outcome," says Dr. Liran Hiersch, lead researcher of the study.
"In addition, although we found that a single early pregnancy loss was associated with an increased risk for subsequent adverse pregnancy outcome, the effect was mild," Hiersch added. She also advised that their findings should be taken into account with other parameters when assessing risk for contrary results.
The group is hoping that their study will be integrated into the usual risk assessment and reminded doctors of the other element to consider when assisting a pregnant woman before labor.
The study was published in the "Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine."
