It is not dangerous to get pregnant right after a miscarriage
Getting pregnant right after a miscarriage does not increase the risk of complications, a new Norwegian study establishes. The WHO should consider changing their recommendations, according to the researchers.
The researchers investigated whether complications in a new pregnancy varied with how long the woman had waited to become pregnant again after a miscarriage or abortion.
Examples of complications the researchers looked at were preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, premature birth and whether the foetus has too low or too high a birth weight.
“We found no connection between conception shortly after a miscarriage or termination and complications in the subsequent pregnancy,” Maria Magnus says. She is an author of the study, and a senior researcher at the Centre for Fertility and Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH).
Does not support WHO recommendations
The study, which is published in PLoS Medicine, included a total of 49,058 births following a miscarriage and 23,707 births following an abortion between 2008 and 2016 in Norway.
“As far as I know, this is one of the largest studies in this field,” Magnus says.
Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women wait at least six months following a miscarriage or abortion before becoming pregnant again – due to the increased risk of complications in the subsequent pregnancy.
The recommendations have largely been based on relatively small studies, according to Magnus. She believes that the findings from the new study do not support these recommendations.
You can decide for yourself
“Our study indicates that women who became pregnant again within three or six months after a miscarriage or termination did not have an increased risk of complications compared to those who conceived again after six to 11 months,” Magnus says.
“Our findings support that couples can decide for themselves when they are ready to try again, and that they may not need to wait six months to avoid complications in the next pregnancy,” Magnus concludes.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik.
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
Reference:
Tessema et al. Interpregnancy interval and adverse pregnancy outcomes among pregnancies following miscarriages or induced abortions in Norway (2008–2016): A cohort study, PLoS Medicine, 2022. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004129
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