Infertility Treatments And Pre-Eclampsia
How IVF And Miscarriage Could Increase the Risk.
Jan 10, 2009
The institute conducted a study called the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study in which they assessed 20,000 first time mothers. They discovered that the average rate for the development of pre-eclampsia in pregnancy was 5.2% of women who had not had previous fertility problems, yet in women who had had IVF or another fertility treatment, the risk was increased to an alarming 25%.
What Is Pre-Eclampsia?
Pre-eclampsia is a high blood pressure disorder thought to be caused by a faulty placenta. The placenta sends oxygen and nutrients to the baby. Sometimes the blood flow to the placenta is not adequate, putting the baby at risk of growth problems or even death. To remedy this problem, the body increases its blood pressure to force more oxygen and vitamins through the placenta to help the baby. Although this is better for the baby, it compromises the mother's health. Other studies have indicated that pre-eclampsia may also be caused by nutritional problems.
Dr. Tom Brewer, an American obstetrician who wrote 'Metabolic Toxaemia Of Late Pregnancy', (Keats/Thorsons 1982), rejected the idea that pre-eclampsia could not be cured except by the delivery of the child. He had two groups of patients, those who paid privately to see him and who were well off and therefore, well fed, and those who were poor and saw him on a public basis. He noticed more pre-eclampsia in the women in the poorer group. He then put all of his public patients on a high protein diet including fruits, meat, eggs and milk. Due to this high protein diet, all cases of eclampsia stopped and there were very few cases of pre-eclampsia.
This could possibly be because the ineffective placenta is actually caused by nutritional deficiency.
What Are The Symptoms Of Pre-Eclampsia?
Symptoms of pre-eclampsia are:
- High blood pressure
- Severe swelling of the feet, ankles and legs
- Protein in the urine.
It is normal to have some swelling in late pregnancy so if you just have swelling but your blood pressure is normal, you don't have pre-eclampsia. To be diagnosed, you would normally need to have all three symptoms.
What are the Symptoms of Eclampsia?
Eclampsia is a disease which develops if pre-eclampsia is left untreated. Symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Vision disturbance
- Convulsions
- Very rarely, coma and death.
Death does not usually occur in developed countries because the disease is very easy to treat successfully.
Delivery of the baby usually stops all symptoms and the mother can make a full recovery.
Who is at Increased Risk?
The following groups of women are more likely to suffer pre-eclampsia:
- First time mothers
- Those with a history of high blood pressure or diabetes
- Those who are over-weight
- Those with a family history of the disorder
- Those with polycystic ovarian syndrome
- Those who are over 40 or under 18
- Anyone with an auto-immune disorder
- Any woman having a baby with a new partner for the first time.
The new study from the Norwegian institute also found that:
- Women who suffered from recurrent miscarriage (three or more) had a 50% increased risk of suffering pre-eclampsia in a successful pregnancy.
- Any woman that had one or two miscarriages and fertility treatment had a 13% increased risk, but women who just had one or two miscarriages and no fertility treatment, did not have any increased risk.
- Women who became pregnant after hormone therapy to induce ovulation, doubled their risk of pre-eclampsia compared with the general population.
The study authors theorized that the factors which caused the woman's infertility may also contribute to high blood pressure problems, explaining why women who undergo fertility treatments are at increased risk.
Perhaps women undergoing IVF should all be on a high protein pre-conceptual diet?
L Trogstad, P Magnus, A Moffett, C Stoltenberg (2008) The effect of recurrent miscarriage and infertility on the risk of pre-eclampsia. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 116 (1) : 108 - 113.
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