Obesity, Disparities in Care Help Drive U.S. Stillbirths: Studies

27,000 American women still experience this often preventable outcome each year, experts say

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- While the rate of stillbirths in the United States has dropped over the past few decades, this tragic outcome is still a reality for far too many couples, experts say.

As part of a series of studies published online April 14 in The Lancet, researchers report that a leading cause of stillbirth in the United States may be obesity, which can raise the risk for fetal loss.

Obese women are more likely to have diabetes and hypertension, and "these are two of the major causes of stillbirth," noted the lead author of one paper, Dr. Robert L. Goldenberg, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. "But for reasons that are not clear, above diabetes, above hypertension, obese women are still more likely to have a stillbirth [than thinner women]."

[LINK: Obesity, Disparities in Care Help Drive U.S. Stillbirths: Studies ]

Posted via email from Pa^2 Patois