Pregnancy and Bariatric Surgery | Medical-Weight-Loss-Guide.com

The effects of pregnancy and bariatric surgery are questions that must be answered, especially considering the amount of women who are in their childbearing years and are undergoing these procedures. 83% of people in the 18-45 year old age group who get bariatric surgery are women.

Research in this field is still young, but we do have some information. There is a study on fertility, pregnancy and bariatric surgery which analyses several other studies on these topics. The information on this page comes from that study.

Most of the reported effects on pregnancy and bariatric surgery for the mothers had to do with gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and high blood pressure caused by being pregnant. For the babies, the most reported outcomes were premature delivery, low birth weight, large birth weight, and death close to the time of delivery.

With pregnancy and bariatric surgery overall, there seems to be a greater chance of needing to be induced for labor. Also no good evidence is available to make a solid recommendation on how long to weight after surgery before becoming pregnant, but based on what is known, it seems that a woman should wait 1 to 2 years afterward. The individual procedures are covered below.

One study found that women who had gastric bypass were at increased risk of pregnancy induced high blood pressure during pregnancy after the procedure. However, the women who had gastric bypass were also more obese which could have been the real cause of the high blood pressure.

Other research on gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and pregnancy induced high blood pressure showed that there was not much difference in the occurrence of these conditions whether or not a woman had gastric bypass surgery.

Gastric bypass does not have an effect on premature birth or low birth weight. It does lessen the chance of having an overweight baby. Most studies report low rates of complications for just born babies.

However, a few studies reported increased rates of neural tube defects (spina bifida, anencephaly, and others). Most of these women did not take their nutritional supplements as they were suppose to. Gastric bypass causes your body to absorb less nutrients.

For women who did not have the full roux-en-Y gastric bypass (i.e. no stomach stapling), a few studies reported higher rates of miscarriage.

For women who had the lap band procedure compared to obese women who did not have any type of weight loss surgery, the rate of gestational diabetes went from 22.1% to 0% and the rate of preeclampsia went from 3.1% to 0%. These researchers also found that the incidence of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and pregnancy induced high blood pressure were all lower for women who were pregnant before and after the lap band. Women also tended to gain less weight during pregnancy

Having the lap band procedure seems to have no effect on your baby's risk of being born prematurely. It does seem to decrease the chances of having an under- or over-weight baby at birth.

One study showed that stomach stapling helped reduce gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and pregnancy induced high blood pressure.

Studies on the rates of c-sections performed in pregnancy and bariatric surgery have conflicting results. Some show that there are lower rates of caesarian sections performed in post-surgery pregnancies while others show that there is no difference. None seem to suggest that weight loss surgery increase the risk of having a c-section.

The main point of these weight loss surgeries is for the intestinal tract to absorb fewer calories. With this decrease in calorie absorption, there is also a decrease in nutrient absorption. The nutritional status in pregnancy and bariatric surgery requires supplements recommended by your doctor.

In a study where 84% of women who had the lap band said they were taking their supplements as they should, no nutritional deficiencies were reported. Low rates of nutritional deficiencies were reported after gastric bypass, but there were cases of neural tube defects in some women who did not take their supplements.

Pregnant woman's belly with her holding a flower

Being overweight can affect a woman's hormones. There are also some medical conditions, like PCOS, that cause women to be overweight and affects their hormones as well. Losing excess weight can help to normalize a woman's hormones. There is some evidence that weight loss surgery can help improve fertility.

It is important you discuss any weight loss or exercise plan with your doctor. Only you and your physician can decide what is best for you. Some people have certain conditions that prevent them from doing all exercises, and goal body weights may be different for different people. You need to discuss all these things with your physician before starting any weight loss or exercise program. Dr. Vickery is not a surgeon. For more specifics on surgical procedures, contact a board certified bariatric surgeon.