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Conception within 6 months of miscarriage safe--study
by Sophie Anderson - August 6, 2010 - comments
Women who get pregnant within six months after having a miscarriage stand the best chance of having a healthy pregnancy with the fewest complications.
Miscarriage can make a woman’s world go haywire. The occurrence can not only cause damage to a woman physically, but also emotionally. The wait for the next conception can prove to be a long and anxious one.
Latest research gives women who have had a miscarriage a reason to cheer at least so far as the wait goes.
The revelations of the study contradict international guidelines that suggest women to wait for a minimum period of six months after miscarriage before trying to conceive again.
Finding of the latest study, conducted by researchers at the University of Aberdeen, reveal that women conceiving within six months of miscarriage have the best chance of healthy pregnancy.
Details of the study
For the purpose of the study, researchers examined data relating to 30,937 women who had a miscarriage in their first pregnancy and then conceived again.
All the participants were treated between 1981 and 2000 in Scottish hospitals.
The study revealed that women who conceived within six months were least likely to encounter another miscarriage, termination or ectopic pregnancy.
Conception within the initial six months after miscarriage also resulted in a reduced risk of Caesarean section, premature delivery and low birth weight baby vis-a-vis cases where conception occurred between six months and a year after the miscarriage.
"Our data showed, that at least in Scottish women, there is no justification in delaying a pregnancy following an uncomplicated miscarriage," said lead researcher Dr. Sohinee Bhattacharya, a lecturer in obstetric epidemiology at the University of Aberdeen.
"This research will help health-care providers to counsel women regarding timing of future pregnancies and will allow couples to make informed choices based on hard evidence," Bhattacharya said.
The critique
Julia Shelley, an associate professor at the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University in Melbourne, in an accompanying journal editorial averred that the Scottish study did not decisively resolve the query regarding when is the best time to get pregnant after a miscarriage.
"In research such as this study, it is not possible to tell whether the intervals between pregnancies were deliberately chosen, or were accidental or involuntary," Shelley said.
"Consequently, we cannot really tell whether pregnancies conceived very soon after a miscarriage really do have better outcomes, or whether women [and couples] who conceive quickly following a miscarriage have better outcomes in a subsequent pregnancy than couples who take longer to conceive," wrote Shelley.
The findings of the study have been published in the Aug. 5 online edition of the 'British Medical Journal.'