Obstetrics

TOPLINE:

Young and adult children of mothers with type 1 diabetes are almost half as likely be diagnosed with this condition compared with those with affected fathers, even with a similar genetic risk score. 

METHODOLOGY:

• Individuals with a family history of type 1 diabetes face 8-15 times higher risk for this condition than the general population, with the risk of inheritance from mothers with type 1 diabetes being about half that of fathers with type 1 diabetes; however, it is unclear if the effect continues past childhood and what is responsible for the difference in risk.
• Researchers performed a meta-analysis across five cohort studies involving 11,475 individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged 0-88 years to evaluate if maternal type 1 diabetes conferred relative protection only to young children.
• They compared the proportion of individuals with type 1 diabetes with affected fathers versus mothers and explored if this comparison was altered by the age at diagnosis and the timing of parental diagnosis relative to the birth of the offspring.
• Lastly, the inherited genetic risk for type 1 diabetes was compared between those with affected mothers versus fathers using a risk score composed of more than 60 different gene variants associated with type 1 diabetes.

TAKEAWAY:

• Individuals with type 1 diabetes were almost twice as likely to have a father with the condition than a mother (odds ratio, 1.79; P < .0001).
• The protective effect of maternal diabetes was seen regardless of whether the individuals were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before or after age 18 years (P < .0001).
• Maternal diabetes was linked to a lower risk for type 1 diabetes in children only if the mother had type 1 diabetes during pregnancy.
• The genetic risk score for type 1 diabetes was not significantly different between those with affected fathers versus mothers (P = .31).

IN PRACTICE:

“Understanding why having a mother compared with a father with type 1 diabetes offers a relative protection against type 1 diabetes could help us develop new ways to prevent type 1 diabetes, such as treatments that mimic some of the protective elements from mothers,” study author Lowri Allen, MBChB, said in a news release.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Dr. Allen from the Diabetes Research Group, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, and was published as an early release from the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. 

LIMITATIONS:

This abstract did not discuss any limitations. The number of individuals and parents with type 1 diabetes in the meta-analysis was not disclosed. The baseline risk for type 1 diabetes among individuals with a mother, father, or both or no parent with type 1 diabetes was not disclosed. The number of people with type 1 diabetes under and over age 18 was not disclosed, nor were the numbers of mothers and fathers with type 1 diabetes. The relative risk in individuals having no parent with type 1 diabetes was not disclosed. Moreover, the race and ethnicity of the study populations were not disclosed. 

DISCLOSURES:

The Wellcome Trust supported this study. The authors declared no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication. A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Young and adult children of mothers with type 1 diabetes are almost half as likely be diagnosed with this condition compared with those with affected fathers, even with a similar genetic risk score. 

METHODOLOGY:

• Individuals with a family history of type 1 diabetes face 8-15 times higher risk for this condition than the general population, with the risk of inheritance from mothers with type 1 diabetes being about half that of fathers with type 1 diabetes; however, it is unclear if the effect continues past childhood and what is responsible for the difference in risk.
• Researchers performed a meta-analysis across five cohort studies involving 11,475 individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged 0-88 years to evaluate if maternal type 1 diabetes conferred relative protection only to young children.
• They compared the proportion of individuals with type 1 diabetes with affected fathers versus mothers and explored if this comparison was altered by the age at diagnosis and the timing of parental diagnosis relative to the birth of the offspring.
• Lastly, the inherited genetic risk for type 1 diabetes was compared between those with affected mothers versus fathers using a risk score composed of more than 60 different gene variants associated with type 1 diabetes.

TAKEAWAY:

• Individuals with type 1 diabetes were almost twice as likely to have a father with the condition than a mother (odds ratio, 1.79; P < .0001).
• The protective effect of maternal diabetes was seen regardless of whether the individuals were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before or after age 18 years (P < .0001).
• Maternal diabetes was linked to a lower risk for type 1 diabetes in children only if the mother had type 1 diabetes during pregnancy.
• The genetic risk score for type 1 diabetes was not significantly different between those with affected fathers versus mothers (P = .31).

IN PRACTICE:

“Understanding why having a mother compared with a father with type 1 diabetes offers a relative protection against type 1 diabetes could help us develop new ways to prevent type 1 diabetes, such as treatments that mimic some of the protective elements from mothers,” study author Lowri Allen, MBChB, said in a news release.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Dr. Allen from the Diabetes Research Group, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, and was published as an early release from the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. 

LIMITATIONS:

This abstract did not discuss any limitations. The number of individuals and parents with type 1 diabetes in the meta-analysis was not disclosed. The baseline risk for type 1 diabetes among individuals with a mother, father, or both or no parent with type 1 diabetes was not disclosed. The number of people with type 1 diabetes under and over age 18 was not disclosed, nor were the numbers of mothers and fathers with type 1 diabetes. The relative risk in individuals having no parent with type 1 diabetes was not disclosed. Moreover, the race and ethnicity of the study populations were not disclosed. 

DISCLOSURES:

The Wellcome Trust supported this study. The authors declared no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication. A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

TOPLINE:

Young and adult children of mothers with type 1 diabetes are almost half as likely be diagnosed with this condition compared with those with affected fathers, even with a similar genetic risk score. 

METHODOLOGY:

• Individuals with a family history of type 1 diabetes face 8-15 times higher risk for this condition than the general population, with the risk of inheritance from mothers with type 1 diabetes being about half that of fathers with type 1 diabetes; however, it is unclear if the effect continues past childhood and what is responsible for the difference in risk.
• Researchers performed a meta-analysis across five cohort studies involving 11,475 individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes aged 0-88 years to evaluate if maternal type 1 diabetes conferred relative protection only to young children.
• They compared the proportion of individuals with type 1 diabetes with affected fathers versus mothers and explored if this comparison was altered by the age at diagnosis and the timing of parental diagnosis relative to the birth of the offspring.
• Lastly, the inherited genetic risk for type 1 diabetes was compared between those with affected mothers versus fathers using a risk score composed of more than 60 different gene variants associated with type 1 diabetes.

TAKEAWAY:

• Individuals with type 1 diabetes were almost twice as likely to have a father with the condition than a mother (odds ratio, 1.79; P < .0001).
• The protective effect of maternal diabetes was seen regardless of whether the individuals were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes before or after age 18 years (P < .0001).
• Maternal diabetes was linked to a lower risk for type 1 diabetes in children only if the mother had type 1 diabetes during pregnancy.
• The genetic risk score for type 1 diabetes was not significantly different between those with affected fathers versus mothers (P = .31).

IN PRACTICE:

“Understanding why having a mother compared with a father with type 1 diabetes offers a relative protection against type 1 diabetes could help us develop new ways to prevent type 1 diabetes, such as treatments that mimic some of the protective elements from mothers,” study author Lowri Allen, MBChB, said in a news release.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Dr. Allen from the Diabetes Research Group, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, and was published as an early release from the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. 

LIMITATIONS:

This abstract did not discuss any limitations. The number of individuals and parents with type 1 diabetes in the meta-analysis was not disclosed. The baseline risk for type 1 diabetes among individuals with a mother, father, or both or no parent with type 1 diabetes was not disclosed. The number of people with type 1 diabetes under and over age 18 was not disclosed, nor were the numbers of mothers and fathers with type 1 diabetes. The relative risk in individuals having no parent with type 1 diabetes was not disclosed. Moreover, the race and ethnicity of the study populations were not disclosed. 

DISCLOSURES:

The Wellcome Trust supported this study. The authors declared no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication. A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

This transcript has been edited for clarity. 

Lawyers have the saying, “Bad facts make for bad cases; bad cases make for bad laws.” What we’re seeing, I fear, all too often in discussions about reproductive rights, reproductive behavior, and attempts to regulate and legislate with respect to abortion and contraception are many bad facts.

I do think it’s important that science and medicine speak up in local settings and every opportunity they have, not so much to say what government should do or to say whether they think a particular law is good or bad, but certainly to get the facts straight in their role as doctors, sometimes as scientists, and as caregivers.

Bad facts are making many bad policies in the reproductive behavior space. For example, there are many people, mainly on the conservative side, who are saying things like intrauterine devices, emergency contraception, and even birth control cause abortions. That is simply not true.

There are interventions that prevent fertilization from occurring. There are also interventions that prevent implantation from occurring. Neither of those are abortions. If an embryo has not implanted into a womb, it is not, by any biological definition, a pregnancy. 

In situations where a barrier method or something else prevents sperm and egg from meeting or if there is an agent that prevents an egg from implanting, these are facts that legislators, the public, and even your patients need to understand if they’re going to make sound policy about access to methods used to control reproduction.

Similarly, you can see debates about whether embryos are deserving of rights. An Alabama court has ruled that embryos are tiny children. A court can say what it wishes in terms of legal status, but it shouldn’t be deviating from the facts. 

The facts are clear. Embryos outside of a uterus implanted are not babies. They are not children. At most, an embryo in a dish might be considered, let’s say, a possible person. Once it implants in a uterus, it may become a potential person because it then still has a failure rate, postimplantation, of not becoming a baby that’s very high. Approximately 40%-50% of such embryos are genetically flawed and aren’t going to be able to turn into a child.

The notion that every embryo, whether it’s stored in a tank or sitting in a dish, is somehow a tiny child, factually is just not true. You can’t make good policy if you ignore the facts. People may wish to protect embryos. They may wish to restrict in vitro fertilization. They may wish to have people implant any embryo that is created and mandate that it has to happen because they don’t want any tiny children not to be brought to term.

Factually, they’re operating outside the realm of what biology and medicine know. There’s no tiny baby, no homunculus, or no preformed baby inside an embryo. An egg that simply fails to implant is not technically even a pregnancy. 

I think all of us have an obligation when we’re in disputes, wherever they occur, whether we’re fighting about laws, having an argument with the neighbors, or speaking to younger high school students or even patients, we need to try to make clear the facts about what we know about eggs, how birth control works, and embryos and their failure rate. 

We also have to be clear about the significance of saying the facts have to guide public policy. I think the facts should, but unfortunately, I don’t think that’s always been true in recent years. As efforts heat up to intervene more with things like contraception, getting the facts straight becomes even more important and more of a duty for those who know best.

Dr. Caplan is director, Division of Medical Ethics, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York. He served as a director, officer, partner, employee, adviser, consultant, or trustee for Johnson & Johnson’s Panel for Compassionate Drug Use (unpaid position). He is a contributing author and adviser for Medscape.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

This transcript has been edited for clarity. 

Lawyers have the saying, “Bad facts make for bad cases; bad cases make for bad laws.” What we’re seeing, I fear, all too often in discussions about reproductive rights, reproductive behavior, and attempts to regulate and legislate with respect to abortion and contraception are many bad facts.

I do think it’s important that science and medicine speak up in local settings and every opportunity they have, not so much to say what government should do or to say whether they think a particular law is good or bad, but certainly to get the facts straight in their role as doctors, sometimes as scientists, and as caregivers.

Bad facts are making many bad policies in the reproductive behavior space. For example, there are many people, mainly on the conservative side, who are saying things like intrauterine devices, emergency contraception, and even birth control cause abortions. That is simply not true.

There are interventions that prevent fertilization from occurring. There are also interventions that prevent implantation from occurring. Neither of those are abortions. If an embryo has not implanted into a womb, it is not, by any biological definition, a pregnancy. 

In situations where a barrier method or something else prevents sperm and egg from meeting or if there is an agent that prevents an egg from implanting, these are facts that legislators, the public, and even your patients need to understand if they’re going to make sound policy about access to methods used to control reproduction.

Similarly, you can see debates about whether embryos are deserving of rights. An Alabama court has ruled that embryos are tiny children. A court can say what it wishes in terms of legal status, but it shouldn’t be deviating from the facts. 

The facts are clear. Embryos outside of a uterus implanted are not babies. They are not children. At most, an embryo in a dish might be considered, let’s say, a possible person. Once it implants in a uterus, it may become a potential person because it then still has a failure rate, postimplantation, of not becoming a baby that’s very high. Approximately 40%-50% of such embryos are genetically flawed and aren’t going to be able to turn into a child.

The notion that every embryo, whether it’s stored in a tank or sitting in a dish, is somehow a tiny child, factually is just not true. You can’t make good policy if you ignore the facts. People may wish to protect embryos. They may wish to restrict in vitro fertilization. They may wish to have people implant any embryo that is created and mandate that it has to happen because they don’t want any tiny children not to be brought to term.

Factually, they’re operating outside the realm of what biology and medicine know. There’s no tiny baby, no homunculus, or no preformed baby inside an embryo. An egg that simply fails to implant is not technically even a pregnancy. 

I think all of us have an obligation when we’re in disputes, wherever they occur, whether we’re fighting about laws, having an argument with the neighbors, or speaking to younger high school students or even patients, we need to try to make clear the facts about what we know about eggs, how birth control works, and embryos and their failure rate. 

We also have to be clear about the significance of saying the facts have to guide public policy. I think the facts should, but unfortunately, I don’t think that’s always been true in recent years. As efforts heat up to intervene more with things like contraception, getting the facts straight becomes even more important and more of a duty for those who know best.

Dr. Caplan is director, Division of Medical Ethics, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York. He served as a director, officer, partner, employee, adviser, consultant, or trustee for Johnson & Johnson’s Panel for Compassionate Drug Use (unpaid position). He is a contributing author and adviser for Medscape.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

This transcript has been edited for clarity. 

Lawyers have the saying, “Bad facts make for bad cases; bad cases make for bad laws.” What we’re seeing, I fear, all too often in discussions about reproductive rights, reproductive behavior, and attempts to regulate and legislate with respect to abortion and contraception are many bad facts.

I do think it’s important that science and medicine speak up in local settings and every opportunity they have, not so much to say what government should do or to say whether they think a particular law is good or bad, but certainly to get the facts straight in their role as doctors, sometimes as scientists, and as caregivers.

Bad facts are making many bad policies in the reproductive behavior space. For example, there are many people, mainly on the conservative side, who are saying things like intrauterine devices, emergency contraception, and even birth control cause abortions. That is simply not true.

There are interventions that prevent fertilization from occurring. There are also interventions that prevent implantation from occurring. Neither of those are abortions. If an embryo has not implanted into a womb, it is not, by any biological definition, a pregnancy. 

In situations where a barrier method or something else prevents sperm and egg from meeting or if there is an agent that prevents an egg from implanting, these are facts that legislators, the public, and even your patients need to understand if they’re going to make sound policy about access to methods used to control reproduction.

Similarly, you can see debates about whether embryos are deserving of rights. An Alabama court has ruled that embryos are tiny children. A court can say what it wishes in terms of legal status, but it shouldn’t be deviating from the facts. 

The facts are clear. Embryos outside of a uterus implanted are not babies. They are not children. At most, an embryo in a dish might be considered, let’s say, a possible person. Once it implants in a uterus, it may become a potential person because it then still has a failure rate, postimplantation, of not becoming a baby that’s very high. Approximately 40%-50% of such embryos are genetically flawed and aren’t going to be able to turn into a child.

The notion that every embryo, whether it’s stored in a tank or sitting in a dish, is somehow a tiny child, factually is just not true. You can’t make good policy if you ignore the facts. People may wish to protect embryos. They may wish to restrict in vitro fertilization. They may wish to have people implant any embryo that is created and mandate that it has to happen because they don’t want any tiny children not to be brought to term.

Factually, they’re operating outside the realm of what biology and medicine know. There’s no tiny baby, no homunculus, or no preformed baby inside an embryo. An egg that simply fails to implant is not technically even a pregnancy. 

I think all of us have an obligation when we’re in disputes, wherever they occur, whether we’re fighting about laws, having an argument with the neighbors, or speaking to younger high school students or even patients, we need to try to make clear the facts about what we know about eggs, how birth control works, and embryos and their failure rate. 

We also have to be clear about the significance of saying the facts have to guide public policy. I think the facts should, but unfortunately, I don’t think that’s always been true in recent years. As efforts heat up to intervene more with things like contraception, getting the facts straight becomes even more important and more of a duty for those who know best.

Dr. Caplan is director, Division of Medical Ethics, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York. He served as a director, officer, partner, employee, adviser, consultant, or trustee for Johnson & Johnson’s Panel for Compassionate Drug Use (unpaid position). He is a contributing author and adviser for Medscape.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

While there may be some lactation consultants who disagree, in my experience counseling women attempting to breastfeed is more art than science. Well before the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) began to offer mini courses on breastfeeding for practitioners I was left to help new mothers based on watching my wife nurse our three children and what scraps of common sense I could sweep up off the floor.

Using my own benchmarks of success I would say I did a decent job with dyads who sought my help. I began by accepting that even under optimal conditions, not every woman and/or child can successfully breastfeed. None of the infants died or was hospitalized with dehydration. A few may have required some additional phototherapy, but they all completed infancy in good shape. On the maternal side I am sure there were a few mothers who had lingering feelings of inadequacy because they had “failed” at breastfeeding. But, for the most part, I think I succeeded in helping new mothers remain as mentally healthy as they could be given the rigors of motherhood. At least I gave it my best shot.

Dr. Wilkoff practiced primary care pediatrics in Brunswick, Maine, for nearly 40 years. He has authored several books on behavioral pediatrics, including “How to Say No to Your Toddler.” Other than a Littman stethoscope he accepted as a first-year medical student in 1966, Dr. Wilkoff reports having nothing to disclose. Email him at [email protected].

While there may be some lactation consultants who disagree, in my experience counseling women attempting to breastfeed is more art than science. Well before the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) began to offer mini courses on breastfeeding for practitioners I was left to help new mothers based on watching my wife nurse our three children and what scraps of common sense I could sweep up off the floor.

Using my own benchmarks of success I would say I did a decent job with dyads who sought my help. I began by accepting that even under optimal conditions, not every woman and/or child can successfully breastfeed. None of the infants died or was hospitalized with dehydration. A few may have required some additional phototherapy, but they all completed infancy in good shape. On the maternal side I am sure there were a few mothers who had lingering feelings of inadequacy because they had “failed” at breastfeeding. But, for the most part, I think I succeeded in helping new mothers remain as mentally healthy as they could be given the rigors of motherhood. At least I gave it my best shot.

Dr. Wilkoff practiced primary care pediatrics in Brunswick, Maine, for nearly 40 years. He has authored several books on behavioral pediatrics, including “How to Say No to Your Toddler.” Other than a Littman stethoscope he accepted as a first-year medical student in 1966, Dr. Wilkoff reports having nothing to disclose. Email him at [email protected].

While there may be some lactation consultants who disagree, in my experience counseling women attempting to breastfeed is more art than science. Well before the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) began to offer mini courses on breastfeeding for practitioners I was left to help new mothers based on watching my wife nurse our three children and what scraps of common sense I could sweep up off the floor.

Using my own benchmarks of success I would say I did a decent job with dyads who sought my help. I began by accepting that even under optimal conditions, not every woman and/or child can successfully breastfeed. None of the infants died or was hospitalized with dehydration. A few may have required some additional phototherapy, but they all completed infancy in good shape. On the maternal side I am sure there were a few mothers who had lingering feelings of inadequacy because they had “failed” at breastfeeding. But, for the most part, I think I succeeded in helping new mothers remain as mentally healthy as they could be given the rigors of motherhood. At least I gave it my best shot.

Dr. Wilkoff practiced primary care pediatrics in Brunswick, Maine, for nearly 40 years. He has authored several books on behavioral pediatrics, including “How to Say No to Your Toddler.” Other than a Littman stethoscope he accepted as a first-year medical student in 1966, Dr. Wilkoff reports having nothing to disclose. Email him at [email protected].

More than 5% of cases of sudden infant death may be linked to maternal obesity, new research showed.

“When a parent has a child that dies of sudden unexplained infant death [SUID], it’s extremely devastating,” said Jan-Marino Ramirez, PhD, the Zain Nadella Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences at the University of Washington, Seattle, and director of the Center for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “And the most devastating problem is that there’s no clear answer. Understanding the mechanisms will help parents understand.”

The study was published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

In the United States, approximately 3500 cases of SUID are reported yearly. After educational campaigns in the 1990s demonstrating safe infant sleep positions, rates of these fatalities dropped but have since plateaued.
 

Maternal Obesity During Pregnancy

Rates of maternal obesity are increasing globally, and more than half of women of reproductive age are overweight or obese.

“Maternal obesity before pregnancy affects placental development, gene expression, and has long-term implications,” said Patrick Catalano, MD, a professor in residence at the Departments of Reproductive Endocrinology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Maternal obesity is a well-documented risk factor for adverse outcomes of pregnancy including stillbirth, preterm birth, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Swedish researchers in 2014 reported maternal obesity was linked to an increase in infant mortality that increased with body mass index (BMI), but that study did not look specifically at SUID.

For their new study, Dr. Ramirez and colleagues looked at data from all live births in the United States from 2015 to 2019 recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics. Of the 18,857,694 live births occurring at 28 weeks of gestation or later, 16,545 infants died of a sudden, unexplained cause.

Rates of SUID in babies born to mothers with obesity increased in a statistically significant, dose-dependent manner relative to normal weight mothers. The unadjusted absolute risks for SUID were 0.74 cases per 1000 births for normal weight mothers, 0.99 cases at BMIs between 30 and 35, 1.17 cases at BMIs between 35 and 40, and 1.47 instances at BMI ≥ 40.

After adjustment for maternal age, race, ethnicity, and level of education, the adjusted odds ratio for a case of SUID was 1.39 among women with the highest levels of obesity (95% CI, 1.31-1.47), according to the researchers.

While the study revealed an association between maternal obesity and SUID, the basis for this connection remains unknown, the investigators noted. One possibility for the link is that obesity increases the risk for obstructive sleep apnea, which can result in intermittent hypoxia. That, in turn, causes oxidative stress, which may possibly have effects on the fetus causing effects that eventually lead to SUID in the infant.

An accompanying editorial by Jacqueline Maya, MD; Marie-France Hivert, MD, MMSc; and Lydia Shook, MD, from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, suggested that the SUID is unlikely directly influenced by high maternal BMI but rather by the metabolic concerns related to obesity such as inflammation, insulin resistance, and abnormal lipid metabolism. Epigenetics may also play a role.

“We believe the evidence for this study of an association between prepregnancy obesity and SUID is a call to action for the scientific and medical community to better understand the complex interplay of biological, social, and behavioral factors that may lead to SUID, a devastating complication that no family should experience,” the authors of the editorial wrote.

Dr. Ramirez stressed the importance of not initiating guilt because there are many factors in SUID such as genetics that cannot be controlled.

“We are far from saying a baby died because you were obese; that’s an important message to parents,” he said. What he sees as important, rather, is using this new research to elucidate further mechanisms that may allow for more targeted interventions: “If we discover that it’s due to, for example, sleep apnea, that’s something we can prevent.”

The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

More than 5% of cases of sudden infant death may be linked to maternal obesity, new research showed.

“When a parent has a child that dies of sudden unexplained infant death [SUID], it’s extremely devastating,” said Jan-Marino Ramirez, PhD, the Zain Nadella Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences at the University of Washington, Seattle, and director of the Center for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “And the most devastating problem is that there’s no clear answer. Understanding the mechanisms will help parents understand.”

The study was published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

In the United States, approximately 3500 cases of SUID are reported yearly. After educational campaigns in the 1990s demonstrating safe infant sleep positions, rates of these fatalities dropped but have since plateaued.
 

Maternal Obesity During Pregnancy

Rates of maternal obesity are increasing globally, and more than half of women of reproductive age are overweight or obese.

“Maternal obesity before pregnancy affects placental development, gene expression, and has long-term implications,” said Patrick Catalano, MD, a professor in residence at the Departments of Reproductive Endocrinology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Maternal obesity is a well-documented risk factor for adverse outcomes of pregnancy including stillbirth, preterm birth, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Swedish researchers in 2014 reported maternal obesity was linked to an increase in infant mortality that increased with body mass index (BMI), but that study did not look specifically at SUID.

For their new study, Dr. Ramirez and colleagues looked at data from all live births in the United States from 2015 to 2019 recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics. Of the 18,857,694 live births occurring at 28 weeks of gestation or later, 16,545 infants died of a sudden, unexplained cause.

Rates of SUID in babies born to mothers with obesity increased in a statistically significant, dose-dependent manner relative to normal weight mothers. The unadjusted absolute risks for SUID were 0.74 cases per 1000 births for normal weight mothers, 0.99 cases at BMIs between 30 and 35, 1.17 cases at BMIs between 35 and 40, and 1.47 instances at BMI ≥ 40.

After adjustment for maternal age, race, ethnicity, and level of education, the adjusted odds ratio for a case of SUID was 1.39 among women with the highest levels of obesity (95% CI, 1.31-1.47), according to the researchers.

While the study revealed an association between maternal obesity and SUID, the basis for this connection remains unknown, the investigators noted. One possibility for the link is that obesity increases the risk for obstructive sleep apnea, which can result in intermittent hypoxia. That, in turn, causes oxidative stress, which may possibly have effects on the fetus causing effects that eventually lead to SUID in the infant.

An accompanying editorial by Jacqueline Maya, MD; Marie-France Hivert, MD, MMSc; and Lydia Shook, MD, from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, suggested that the SUID is unlikely directly influenced by high maternal BMI but rather by the metabolic concerns related to obesity such as inflammation, insulin resistance, and abnormal lipid metabolism. Epigenetics may also play a role.

“We believe the evidence for this study of an association between prepregnancy obesity and SUID is a call to action for the scientific and medical community to better understand the complex interplay of biological, social, and behavioral factors that may lead to SUID, a devastating complication that no family should experience,” the authors of the editorial wrote.

Dr. Ramirez stressed the importance of not initiating guilt because there are many factors in SUID such as genetics that cannot be controlled.

“We are far from saying a baby died because you were obese; that’s an important message to parents,” he said. What he sees as important, rather, is using this new research to elucidate further mechanisms that may allow for more targeted interventions: “If we discover that it’s due to, for example, sleep apnea, that’s something we can prevent.”

The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

More than 5% of cases of sudden infant death may be linked to maternal obesity, new research showed.

“When a parent has a child that dies of sudden unexplained infant death [SUID], it’s extremely devastating,” said Jan-Marino Ramirez, PhD, the Zain Nadella Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosciences at the University of Washington, Seattle, and director of the Center for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “And the most devastating problem is that there’s no clear answer. Understanding the mechanisms will help parents understand.”

The study was published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

In the United States, approximately 3500 cases of SUID are reported yearly. After educational campaigns in the 1990s demonstrating safe infant sleep positions, rates of these fatalities dropped but have since plateaued.
 

Maternal Obesity During Pregnancy

Rates of maternal obesity are increasing globally, and more than half of women of reproductive age are overweight or obese.

“Maternal obesity before pregnancy affects placental development, gene expression, and has long-term implications,” said Patrick Catalano, MD, a professor in residence at the Departments of Reproductive Endocrinology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Maternal obesity is a well-documented risk factor for adverse outcomes of pregnancy including stillbirth, preterm birth, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. Swedish researchers in 2014 reported maternal obesity was linked to an increase in infant mortality that increased with body mass index (BMI), but that study did not look specifically at SUID.

For their new study, Dr. Ramirez and colleagues looked at data from all live births in the United States from 2015 to 2019 recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics. Of the 18,857,694 live births occurring at 28 weeks of gestation or later, 16,545 infants died of a sudden, unexplained cause.

Rates of SUID in babies born to mothers with obesity increased in a statistically significant, dose-dependent manner relative to normal weight mothers. The unadjusted absolute risks for SUID were 0.74 cases per 1000 births for normal weight mothers, 0.99 cases at BMIs between 30 and 35, 1.17 cases at BMIs between 35 and 40, and 1.47 instances at BMI ≥ 40.

After adjustment for maternal age, race, ethnicity, and level of education, the adjusted odds ratio for a case of SUID was 1.39 among women with the highest levels of obesity (95% CI, 1.31-1.47), according to the researchers.

While the study revealed an association between maternal obesity and SUID, the basis for this connection remains unknown, the investigators noted. One possibility for the link is that obesity increases the risk for obstructive sleep apnea, which can result in intermittent hypoxia. That, in turn, causes oxidative stress, which may possibly have effects on the fetus causing effects that eventually lead to SUID in the infant.

An accompanying editorial by Jacqueline Maya, MD; Marie-France Hivert, MD, MMSc; and Lydia Shook, MD, from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, suggested that the SUID is unlikely directly influenced by high maternal BMI but rather by the metabolic concerns related to obesity such as inflammation, insulin resistance, and abnormal lipid metabolism. Epigenetics may also play a role.

“We believe the evidence for this study of an association between prepregnancy obesity and SUID is a call to action for the scientific and medical community to better understand the complex interplay of biological, social, and behavioral factors that may lead to SUID, a devastating complication that no family should experience,” the authors of the editorial wrote.

Dr. Ramirez stressed the importance of not initiating guilt because there are many factors in SUID such as genetics that cannot be controlled.

“We are far from saying a baby died because you were obese; that’s an important message to parents,” he said. What he sees as important, rather, is using this new research to elucidate further mechanisms that may allow for more targeted interventions: “If we discover that it’s due to, for example, sleep apnea, that’s something we can prevent.”

The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Federal officials intend to compel US hospitals to improve obstetrical services, with a plan that could result in a potential loss of Medicare and Medicaid funds for institutions that fail to comply with the demands.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 10 announced this proposal, tucking its plan for new conditions of participation (COP) for obstetrician services into the draft 2025 rule on Medicare payments for outpatient hospital services.

The COP requirements are considered the most powerful tool CMS has for trying to improve the quality of medical care. With the new obstetric COP requirement, CMS said it intends to address what it sees as potential shortfalls in training, staffing, transfer protocols, and emergency services readiness.

In practice, hospitals, CMS, and accrediting bodies such as the Joint Commission usually try to address deficiencies to prevent what would be a devastating financial loss for a hospital.

“CMS is using all of our tools to improve the safety, quality, and timeliness of the care that hospitals provide to pregnant women,” Dora Hughes, MD, MPH, acting chief medical officer of the agency, said in a press release about the proposal.

CMS estimated the proposal may add new annual expenses of $70,671 per hospital. For comparison, this figure would represent far less than 1% of the total $1.4 trillion spent on hospital care in the United States in 2022.

CMS said it is trying to address the reasons women in the United States face more risk in giving birth than those in other nations. There were 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in this country in 2022, compared with 8.6 deaths per 100,000 live births or lower that year in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, CMS said.

But CMS is seeking to impose this new requirement at a time amid growing concerns about “maternity care deserts.”
 

Reasonable Asks?

Between 2011 and 2021, one out of every four rural hospitals in America stopped providing obstetrics services, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said at a May hearing. Mr. Wyden last year was part of a fight to try to prevent the closure of a birthing center in Baker City in rural eastern Oregon.

The federal government should focus first on helping hospitals keep obstetrical facilities open, said Elizabeth Powers, MD, MHA, the health services officer of the Winding Waters Clinic in Enterprise, Oregon.

“Until we can ensure access to services, we can’t even work on quality,” Dr. Powers told this news organization. “If you’re thinking about a Maslow’s hierarchy of achieving health outcomes, access is your foundation, and without a shift in payment, that foundation is eroded.”

In the draft rule, CMS sketched broad mandates about staffing and training. For example, the agency proposes requiring if a hospital offers obstetrical services, “the services must be well organized and provided in accordance with nationally recognized acceptable standards of practice.”

That means CMS likely will need to provide further guidance for hospitals if it proceeds with this plan for obstetric COP requirements, said Soumi Saha, PharmD, JD, senior vice president of government affairs at Premier Inc., a healthcare consultancy and purchasing organization.

Premier is among the many groups, including the American Hospital Association, that oppose the COP proposal.

Dr. Saha said a better approach would be to consolidate the work being done through the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including earlier CMS projects, to address maternal health in a cohesive way. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has programs, as does the HHS Office on Women’s Health.

“How do we really get to a holistic, national, unified approach to addressing this issue that is led by HHS at the top level as the top agency and trickles down consistently versus having all of these kinds of disparate programs in place?” she said.

In recent years, the federal and state governments have taken many steps to try to improve maternal healthcare.

These include the extension of Medicaid benefits to new mothers out to 12 months following delivery in most states. CMS also has encouraged hospitals to participate in voluntary statewide or national programs to improve the quality of perinatal care. Last year the agency launched a “Birthing-Friendly” designation icon for qualifying hospitals on its Care Compare online tool.
 

Support and Opposition

CMS is accepting comments on the draft 2025 hospital outpatient rule, which includes the obstetric COP proposal, through September 9.

Supporters of the obstetric COP approach included the American Nurses Association (ANA), which urged CMS to consider how staffing shortages can undermine patient care in creating COP requirements.

“Nurses are professionals providing critical healthcare services to patients; they should not have to fight for allotted breaks and other challenges created by antiquated views of the profession and payment policies that disincentivize adequate nurse staffing,” Debbie Hatmaker, PhD, RN, ANA’s chief nursing officer, wrote in a June 7 comment to CMS.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) also objected to the prospect of new COP for maternal healthcare. They detailed their concerns in separate comments submitted in June 2024.

ACOG said it feared many hospitals might opt to close labor and delivery (L&D) units due to new CMS COP requirements, especially if these take effect “without important and direct stakeholder engagement and buy-in.” More than 200 rural hospitals across the United States stopped providing L&D services in the last decade, Christopher M. Zahn, MD, ACOG’s interim chief executive officer, wrote in a comment to CMS.

“The reason for these closures is varied. Many rural hospitals that still have L&D units continue to lose money on patient services overall, and their ability to continue to deliver maternity care is at risk,” Dr. Zahn wrote.

The AAMC urged CMS to focus on using other strategies such as quality measures to try to improve maternal health and to drop the COP approach. CMS must consider how many clinicians play a role in successful births, including those who see patients during their pregnancies, Jonathan Jaffery, MD, MS, AAMC’s chief healthcare officer, wrote in a comment to the agency.

“Hospitals do have a critical role in improving maternal healthcare equity, especially for labor and delivery outcomes,” he wrote, “but cannot be held solely responsible for implementing much-needed improvements and solutions.”
 

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Federal officials intend to compel US hospitals to improve obstetrical services, with a plan that could result in a potential loss of Medicare and Medicaid funds for institutions that fail to comply with the demands.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 10 announced this proposal, tucking its plan for new conditions of participation (COP) for obstetrician services into the draft 2025 rule on Medicare payments for outpatient hospital services.

The COP requirements are considered the most powerful tool CMS has for trying to improve the quality of medical care. With the new obstetric COP requirement, CMS said it intends to address what it sees as potential shortfalls in training, staffing, transfer protocols, and emergency services readiness.

In practice, hospitals, CMS, and accrediting bodies such as the Joint Commission usually try to address deficiencies to prevent what would be a devastating financial loss for a hospital.

“CMS is using all of our tools to improve the safety, quality, and timeliness of the care that hospitals provide to pregnant women,” Dora Hughes, MD, MPH, acting chief medical officer of the agency, said in a press release about the proposal.

CMS estimated the proposal may add new annual expenses of $70,671 per hospital. For comparison, this figure would represent far less than 1% of the total $1.4 trillion spent on hospital care in the United States in 2022.

CMS said it is trying to address the reasons women in the United States face more risk in giving birth than those in other nations. There were 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in this country in 2022, compared with 8.6 deaths per 100,000 live births or lower that year in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, CMS said.

But CMS is seeking to impose this new requirement at a time amid growing concerns about “maternity care deserts.”
 

Reasonable Asks?

Between 2011 and 2021, one out of every four rural hospitals in America stopped providing obstetrics services, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said at a May hearing. Mr. Wyden last year was part of a fight to try to prevent the closure of a birthing center in Baker City in rural eastern Oregon.

The federal government should focus first on helping hospitals keep obstetrical facilities open, said Elizabeth Powers, MD, MHA, the health services officer of the Winding Waters Clinic in Enterprise, Oregon.

“Until we can ensure access to services, we can’t even work on quality,” Dr. Powers told this news organization. “If you’re thinking about a Maslow’s hierarchy of achieving health outcomes, access is your foundation, and without a shift in payment, that foundation is eroded.”

In the draft rule, CMS sketched broad mandates about staffing and training. For example, the agency proposes requiring if a hospital offers obstetrical services, “the services must be well organized and provided in accordance with nationally recognized acceptable standards of practice.”

That means CMS likely will need to provide further guidance for hospitals if it proceeds with this plan for obstetric COP requirements, said Soumi Saha, PharmD, JD, senior vice president of government affairs at Premier Inc., a healthcare consultancy and purchasing organization.

Premier is among the many groups, including the American Hospital Association, that oppose the COP proposal.

Dr. Saha said a better approach would be to consolidate the work being done through the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including earlier CMS projects, to address maternal health in a cohesive way. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has programs, as does the HHS Office on Women’s Health.

“How do we really get to a holistic, national, unified approach to addressing this issue that is led by HHS at the top level as the top agency and trickles down consistently versus having all of these kinds of disparate programs in place?” she said.

In recent years, the federal and state governments have taken many steps to try to improve maternal healthcare.

These include the extension of Medicaid benefits to new mothers out to 12 months following delivery in most states. CMS also has encouraged hospitals to participate in voluntary statewide or national programs to improve the quality of perinatal care. Last year the agency launched a “Birthing-Friendly” designation icon for qualifying hospitals on its Care Compare online tool.
 

Support and Opposition

CMS is accepting comments on the draft 2025 hospital outpatient rule, which includes the obstetric COP proposal, through September 9.

Supporters of the obstetric COP approach included the American Nurses Association (ANA), which urged CMS to consider how staffing shortages can undermine patient care in creating COP requirements.

“Nurses are professionals providing critical healthcare services to patients; they should not have to fight for allotted breaks and other challenges created by antiquated views of the profession and payment policies that disincentivize adequate nurse staffing,” Debbie Hatmaker, PhD, RN, ANA’s chief nursing officer, wrote in a June 7 comment to CMS.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) also objected to the prospect of new COP for maternal healthcare. They detailed their concerns in separate comments submitted in June 2024.

ACOG said it feared many hospitals might opt to close labor and delivery (L&D) units due to new CMS COP requirements, especially if these take effect “without important and direct stakeholder engagement and buy-in.” More than 200 rural hospitals across the United States stopped providing L&D services in the last decade, Christopher M. Zahn, MD, ACOG’s interim chief executive officer, wrote in a comment to CMS.

“The reason for these closures is varied. Many rural hospitals that still have L&D units continue to lose money on patient services overall, and their ability to continue to deliver maternity care is at risk,” Dr. Zahn wrote.

The AAMC urged CMS to focus on using other strategies such as quality measures to try to improve maternal health and to drop the COP approach. CMS must consider how many clinicians play a role in successful births, including those who see patients during their pregnancies, Jonathan Jaffery, MD, MS, AAMC’s chief healthcare officer, wrote in a comment to the agency.

“Hospitals do have a critical role in improving maternal healthcare equity, especially for labor and delivery outcomes,” he wrote, “but cannot be held solely responsible for implementing much-needed improvements and solutions.”
 

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Federal officials intend to compel US hospitals to improve obstetrical services, with a plan that could result in a potential loss of Medicare and Medicaid funds for institutions that fail to comply with the demands.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 10 announced this proposal, tucking its plan for new conditions of participation (COP) for obstetrician services into the draft 2025 rule on Medicare payments for outpatient hospital services.

The COP requirements are considered the most powerful tool CMS has for trying to improve the quality of medical care. With the new obstetric COP requirement, CMS said it intends to address what it sees as potential shortfalls in training, staffing, transfer protocols, and emergency services readiness.

In practice, hospitals, CMS, and accrediting bodies such as the Joint Commission usually try to address deficiencies to prevent what would be a devastating financial loss for a hospital.

“CMS is using all of our tools to improve the safety, quality, and timeliness of the care that hospitals provide to pregnant women,” Dora Hughes, MD, MPH, acting chief medical officer of the agency, said in a press release about the proposal.

CMS estimated the proposal may add new annual expenses of $70,671 per hospital. For comparison, this figure would represent far less than 1% of the total $1.4 trillion spent on hospital care in the United States in 2022.

CMS said it is trying to address the reasons women in the United States face more risk in giving birth than those in other nations. There were 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in this country in 2022, compared with 8.6 deaths per 100,000 live births or lower that year in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, CMS said.

But CMS is seeking to impose this new requirement at a time amid growing concerns about “maternity care deserts.”
 

Reasonable Asks?

Between 2011 and 2021, one out of every four rural hospitals in America stopped providing obstetrics services, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said at a May hearing. Mr. Wyden last year was part of a fight to try to prevent the closure of a birthing center in Baker City in rural eastern Oregon.

The federal government should focus first on helping hospitals keep obstetrical facilities open, said Elizabeth Powers, MD, MHA, the health services officer of the Winding Waters Clinic in Enterprise, Oregon.

“Until we can ensure access to services, we can’t even work on quality,” Dr. Powers told this news organization. “If you’re thinking about a Maslow’s hierarchy of achieving health outcomes, access is your foundation, and without a shift in payment, that foundation is eroded.”

In the draft rule, CMS sketched broad mandates about staffing and training. For example, the agency proposes requiring if a hospital offers obstetrical services, “the services must be well organized and provided in accordance with nationally recognized acceptable standards of practice.”

That means CMS likely will need to provide further guidance for hospitals if it proceeds with this plan for obstetric COP requirements, said Soumi Saha, PharmD, JD, senior vice president of government affairs at Premier Inc., a healthcare consultancy and purchasing organization.

Premier is among the many groups, including the American Hospital Association, that oppose the COP proposal.

Dr. Saha said a better approach would be to consolidate the work being done through the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including earlier CMS projects, to address maternal health in a cohesive way. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has programs, as does the HHS Office on Women’s Health.

“How do we really get to a holistic, national, unified approach to addressing this issue that is led by HHS at the top level as the top agency and trickles down consistently versus having all of these kinds of disparate programs in place?” she said.

In recent years, the federal and state governments have taken many steps to try to improve maternal healthcare.

These include the extension of Medicaid benefits to new mothers out to 12 months following delivery in most states. CMS also has encouraged hospitals to participate in voluntary statewide or national programs to improve the quality of perinatal care. Last year the agency launched a “Birthing-Friendly” designation icon for qualifying hospitals on its Care Compare online tool.
 

Support and Opposition

CMS is accepting comments on the draft 2025 hospital outpatient rule, which includes the obstetric COP proposal, through September 9.

Supporters of the obstetric COP approach included the American Nurses Association (ANA), which urged CMS to consider how staffing shortages can undermine patient care in creating COP requirements.

“Nurses are professionals providing critical healthcare services to patients; they should not have to fight for allotted breaks and other challenges created by antiquated views of the profession and payment policies that disincentivize adequate nurse staffing,” Debbie Hatmaker, PhD, RN, ANA’s chief nursing officer, wrote in a June 7 comment to CMS.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) also objected to the prospect of new COP for maternal healthcare. They detailed their concerns in separate comments submitted in June 2024.

ACOG said it feared many hospitals might opt to close labor and delivery (L&D) units due to new CMS COP requirements, especially if these take effect “without important and direct stakeholder engagement and buy-in.” More than 200 rural hospitals across the United States stopped providing L&D services in the last decade, Christopher M. Zahn, MD, ACOG’s interim chief executive officer, wrote in a comment to CMS.

“The reason for these closures is varied. Many rural hospitals that still have L&D units continue to lose money on patient services overall, and their ability to continue to deliver maternity care is at risk,” Dr. Zahn wrote.

The AAMC urged CMS to focus on using other strategies such as quality measures to try to improve maternal health and to drop the COP approach. CMS must consider how many clinicians play a role in successful births, including those who see patients during their pregnancies, Jonathan Jaffery, MD, MS, AAMC’s chief healthcare officer, wrote in a comment to the agency.

“Hospitals do have a critical role in improving maternal healthcare equity, especially for labor and delivery outcomes,” he wrote, “but cannot be held solely responsible for implementing much-needed improvements and solutions.”
 

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

When Bristeria Clark went into labor with her son in 2015, her contractions were steady at first. Then, they stalled. Her cervix stopped dilating. After a few hours, doctors at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, prepped Ms. Clark for an emergency cesarean section.

It wasn’t the vaginal birth Ms. Clark had hoped for during her pregnancy.

“I was freaking out. That was my first child. Like, of course you don’t plan that,” she said. “I just remember the gas pulling up to my face and I ended up going to sleep.”

She remembered feeling a rush of relief when she woke to see that her baby boy was healthy.

Ms. Clark, a 33-year-old nursing student who also works full-time in county government, had another C-section when her second child was born in 2020. This time, the cesarean was planned.

Ms. Clark said she’s grateful the physicians and nurses who delivered both her babies were kind and caring during her labor and delivery. But looking back, she said, she wishes she had had a doula for one-on-one support through pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Now she wants to give other women the option she didn’t have.

Ms. Clark is a member of Morehouse School of Medicine’s first class of rural doulas, called Perinatal Patient Navigators.

The program recently graduated a dozen participants, all Black women from southwestern Georgia. They have completed more than 5 months of training and are scheduled to begin working with pregnant and postpartum patients this year.

“We’re developing a workforce that’s going to be providing the support that Black women and birthing people need,” Natalie Hernandez-Green, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, said at the doula commencement ceremony in Albany, Georgia.

Albany is Morehouse School of Medicine’s second Perinatal Patient Navigator program site. The first has been up and running in Atlanta since training began in the fall of 2022.

Georgia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the country, according to an analysis by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. And Black Georgians are more than twice as likely as White Georgians to die of causes related to pregnancy.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor. Black women are dying at [an] alarming rate from pregnancy-related complications,” said Dr. Hernandez-Green, who is also executive director of the Center for Maternal Health Equity at Morehouse School of Medicine. “And we’re about to change that, one person at a time.”

The presence of a doula, along with regular nursing care, is associated with improved labor and delivery outcomes, reduced stress, and higher rates of patient satisfaction, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Multiple studies also link doulas to fewer expensive childbirth interventions, including cesarean births.

Doulas are not medical professionals. They are trained to offer education about the pregnancy and postpartum periods, to guide patients through the healthcare system, and to provide emotional and physical support before, during, and after childbirth.

Morehouse School of Medicine’s program is among a growing number of similar efforts being introduced across the country as more communities look to doulas to help address maternal mortality and poor maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women and other women of color.

Now that she has graduated, Ms. Clark said she’s looking forward to helping other women in her community as a doula. “To be that person that would be there for my clients, treat them like a sister or like a mother, in a sense of just treating them with utmost respect,” she said. “The ultimate goal is to make them feel comfortable and let them know ‘I’m here to support you.’ ” Her training has inspired her to become an advocate for maternal health issues in southwestern Georgia.

Grants fund Morehouse School of Medicine’s doula program, which costs $350,000 a year to operate. Graduates are given a $2,000 training stipend and the program places five graduates with healthcare providers in southwestern Georgia. Grant money also pays the doulas’ salaries for 1 year. 

“It’s not sustainable if you’re chasing the next grant to fund it,” said Rachel Hardeman, a professor of health and racial equity at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Thirteen states cover doulas through Medicaid, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.

Dr. Hardeman and others have found that when Medicaid programs cover doula care, states save millions of dollars in healthcare costs. “We were able to calculate the return on investment if Medicaid decided to reimburse doulas for pregnant people who are Medicaid beneficiaries,” she said.

That’s because doulas can help reduce the number of expensive medical interventions during and after birth, and improving delivery outcomes, including reduced cesarean sections.

Doulas can even reduce the likelihood of preterm birth. 

“An infant that is born at a very, very early gestational age is going to require a great deal of resources and interventions to ensure that they survive and then continue to thrive,” Dr. Hardeman said.

There is growing demand for doula services in Georgia, said Fowzio Jama, director of research for Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia. Her group recently completed a pilot study that offered doula services to about 170 Georgians covered under Medicaid. “We had a wait-list of over 200 clients and we wanted to give them the support that they needed, but we just couldn’t with the given resources that we had,” Ms. Jama said.

Doula services can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, making it too expensive for many low-income people, rural communities, and communities of color, many of which suffer from shortages in maternity care, according to the March of Dimes.

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies study found that matching high-risk patients with doulas — particularly doulas from similar racial and ethnic backgrounds — had a positive effect on patients. 

“There was a reduced use of pitocin to induce labor. We saw fewer requests for pain medication. And with our infants, only 6% were low birth weight,” Ms. Jama said.

Still, she and others acknowledge that doulas alone can’t fix the problem of high maternal mortality and morbidity rates.

States, including Georgia, need to do more to bring comprehensive maternity care to communities that need more options, Dr. Hardeman said.

“I think it’s important to understand that doulas are not going to save us, and we should not put that expectation on them. Doulas are a tool,” she said. “They are a piece of the puzzle that is helping to impact a really, really complex issue.”

In the meantime, Joan Anderson, 55, said she’s excited to get to work supporting patients, especially from rural areas around Albany.

“I feel like I’m equipped to go out and be that voice, be that person that our community needs so bad,” said Ms. Anderson, a graduate of the Morehouse School of Medicine doula program. “I am encouraged to know that I will be joining in that mission, that fight for us, as far as maternal health is concerned.”

Ms. Anderson said that someday she wants to open a birthing center to provide maternity care. “We do not have one here in southwest Georgia at all,” Ms. Anderson said.

In addition to providing support during and after childbirth, Ms. Anderson and her fellow graduates are trained to assess their patients’ needs and connect them to services such as food assistance, mental health care, transportation to prenatal appointments, and breastfeeding assistance.

Their work is likely to have ripple effects across a largely rural corner of Georgia, said Sherrell Byrd, who co-founded and directs SOWEGA Rising, a nonprofit organization in southwestern Georgia.

“So many of the graduates are part of church networks, they are part of community organizations, some of them are our government workers. They’re very connected,” Ms. Byrd said. “And I think that connectedness is what’s going to help them be successful moving forward.”

This reporting is part of a fellowship with the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund. It comes from a partnership that includes WABE, NPR, and KFF Health News.

A version of this article first appeared on KFF Health News.

When Bristeria Clark went into labor with her son in 2015, her contractions were steady at first. Then, they stalled. Her cervix stopped dilating. After a few hours, doctors at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, prepped Ms. Clark for an emergency cesarean section.

It wasn’t the vaginal birth Ms. Clark had hoped for during her pregnancy.

“I was freaking out. That was my first child. Like, of course you don’t plan that,” she said. “I just remember the gas pulling up to my face and I ended up going to sleep.”

She remembered feeling a rush of relief when she woke to see that her baby boy was healthy.

Ms. Clark, a 33-year-old nursing student who also works full-time in county government, had another C-section when her second child was born in 2020. This time, the cesarean was planned.

Ms. Clark said she’s grateful the physicians and nurses who delivered both her babies were kind and caring during her labor and delivery. But looking back, she said, she wishes she had had a doula for one-on-one support through pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Now she wants to give other women the option she didn’t have.

Ms. Clark is a member of Morehouse School of Medicine’s first class of rural doulas, called Perinatal Patient Navigators.

The program recently graduated a dozen participants, all Black women from southwestern Georgia. They have completed more than 5 months of training and are scheduled to begin working with pregnant and postpartum patients this year.

“We’re developing a workforce that’s going to be providing the support that Black women and birthing people need,” Natalie Hernandez-Green, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, said at the doula commencement ceremony in Albany, Georgia.

Albany is Morehouse School of Medicine’s second Perinatal Patient Navigator program site. The first has been up and running in Atlanta since training began in the fall of 2022.

Georgia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the country, according to an analysis by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. And Black Georgians are more than twice as likely as White Georgians to die of causes related to pregnancy.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor. Black women are dying at [an] alarming rate from pregnancy-related complications,” said Dr. Hernandez-Green, who is also executive director of the Center for Maternal Health Equity at Morehouse School of Medicine. “And we’re about to change that, one person at a time.”

The presence of a doula, along with regular nursing care, is associated with improved labor and delivery outcomes, reduced stress, and higher rates of patient satisfaction, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Multiple studies also link doulas to fewer expensive childbirth interventions, including cesarean births.

Doulas are not medical professionals. They are trained to offer education about the pregnancy and postpartum periods, to guide patients through the healthcare system, and to provide emotional and physical support before, during, and after childbirth.

Morehouse School of Medicine’s program is among a growing number of similar efforts being introduced across the country as more communities look to doulas to help address maternal mortality and poor maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women and other women of color.

Now that she has graduated, Ms. Clark said she’s looking forward to helping other women in her community as a doula. “To be that person that would be there for my clients, treat them like a sister or like a mother, in a sense of just treating them with utmost respect,” she said. “The ultimate goal is to make them feel comfortable and let them know ‘I’m here to support you.’ ” Her training has inspired her to become an advocate for maternal health issues in southwestern Georgia.

Grants fund Morehouse School of Medicine’s doula program, which costs $350,000 a year to operate. Graduates are given a $2,000 training stipend and the program places five graduates with healthcare providers in southwestern Georgia. Grant money also pays the doulas’ salaries for 1 year. 

“It’s not sustainable if you’re chasing the next grant to fund it,” said Rachel Hardeman, a professor of health and racial equity at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Thirteen states cover doulas through Medicaid, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.

Dr. Hardeman and others have found that when Medicaid programs cover doula care, states save millions of dollars in healthcare costs. “We were able to calculate the return on investment if Medicaid decided to reimburse doulas for pregnant people who are Medicaid beneficiaries,” she said.

That’s because doulas can help reduce the number of expensive medical interventions during and after birth, and improving delivery outcomes, including reduced cesarean sections.

Doulas can even reduce the likelihood of preterm birth. 

“An infant that is born at a very, very early gestational age is going to require a great deal of resources and interventions to ensure that they survive and then continue to thrive,” Dr. Hardeman said.

There is growing demand for doula services in Georgia, said Fowzio Jama, director of research for Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia. Her group recently completed a pilot study that offered doula services to about 170 Georgians covered under Medicaid. “We had a wait-list of over 200 clients and we wanted to give them the support that they needed, but we just couldn’t with the given resources that we had,” Ms. Jama said.

Doula services can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, making it too expensive for many low-income people, rural communities, and communities of color, many of which suffer from shortages in maternity care, according to the March of Dimes.

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies study found that matching high-risk patients with doulas — particularly doulas from similar racial and ethnic backgrounds — had a positive effect on patients. 

“There was a reduced use of pitocin to induce labor. We saw fewer requests for pain medication. And with our infants, only 6% were low birth weight,” Ms. Jama said.

Still, she and others acknowledge that doulas alone can’t fix the problem of high maternal mortality and morbidity rates.

States, including Georgia, need to do more to bring comprehensive maternity care to communities that need more options, Dr. Hardeman said.

“I think it’s important to understand that doulas are not going to save us, and we should not put that expectation on them. Doulas are a tool,” she said. “They are a piece of the puzzle that is helping to impact a really, really complex issue.”

In the meantime, Joan Anderson, 55, said she’s excited to get to work supporting patients, especially from rural areas around Albany.

“I feel like I’m equipped to go out and be that voice, be that person that our community needs so bad,” said Ms. Anderson, a graduate of the Morehouse School of Medicine doula program. “I am encouraged to know that I will be joining in that mission, that fight for us, as far as maternal health is concerned.”

Ms. Anderson said that someday she wants to open a birthing center to provide maternity care. “We do not have one here in southwest Georgia at all,” Ms. Anderson said.

In addition to providing support during and after childbirth, Ms. Anderson and her fellow graduates are trained to assess their patients’ needs and connect them to services such as food assistance, mental health care, transportation to prenatal appointments, and breastfeeding assistance.

Their work is likely to have ripple effects across a largely rural corner of Georgia, said Sherrell Byrd, who co-founded and directs SOWEGA Rising, a nonprofit organization in southwestern Georgia.

“So many of the graduates are part of church networks, they are part of community organizations, some of them are our government workers. They’re very connected,” Ms. Byrd said. “And I think that connectedness is what’s going to help them be successful moving forward.”

This reporting is part of a fellowship with the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund. It comes from a partnership that includes WABE, NPR, and KFF Health News.

A version of this article first appeared on KFF Health News.

When Bristeria Clark went into labor with her son in 2015, her contractions were steady at first. Then, they stalled. Her cervix stopped dilating. After a few hours, doctors at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, prepped Ms. Clark for an emergency cesarean section.

It wasn’t the vaginal birth Ms. Clark had hoped for during her pregnancy.

“I was freaking out. That was my first child. Like, of course you don’t plan that,” she said. “I just remember the gas pulling up to my face and I ended up going to sleep.”

She remembered feeling a rush of relief when she woke to see that her baby boy was healthy.

Ms. Clark, a 33-year-old nursing student who also works full-time in county government, had another C-section when her second child was born in 2020. This time, the cesarean was planned.

Ms. Clark said she’s grateful the physicians and nurses who delivered both her babies were kind and caring during her labor and delivery. But looking back, she said, she wishes she had had a doula for one-on-one support through pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Now she wants to give other women the option she didn’t have.

Ms. Clark is a member of Morehouse School of Medicine’s first class of rural doulas, called Perinatal Patient Navigators.

The program recently graduated a dozen participants, all Black women from southwestern Georgia. They have completed more than 5 months of training and are scheduled to begin working with pregnant and postpartum patients this year.

“We’re developing a workforce that’s going to be providing the support that Black women and birthing people need,” Natalie Hernandez-Green, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, said at the doula commencement ceremony in Albany, Georgia.

Albany is Morehouse School of Medicine’s second Perinatal Patient Navigator program site. The first has been up and running in Atlanta since training began in the fall of 2022.

Georgia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the country, according to an analysis by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. And Black Georgians are more than twice as likely as White Georgians to die of causes related to pregnancy.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor. Black women are dying at [an] alarming rate from pregnancy-related complications,” said Dr. Hernandez-Green, who is also executive director of the Center for Maternal Health Equity at Morehouse School of Medicine. “And we’re about to change that, one person at a time.”

The presence of a doula, along with regular nursing care, is associated with improved labor and delivery outcomes, reduced stress, and higher rates of patient satisfaction, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Multiple studies also link doulas to fewer expensive childbirth interventions, including cesarean births.

Doulas are not medical professionals. They are trained to offer education about the pregnancy and postpartum periods, to guide patients through the healthcare system, and to provide emotional and physical support before, during, and after childbirth.

Morehouse School of Medicine’s program is among a growing number of similar efforts being introduced across the country as more communities look to doulas to help address maternal mortality and poor maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women and other women of color.

Now that she has graduated, Ms. Clark said she’s looking forward to helping other women in her community as a doula. “To be that person that would be there for my clients, treat them like a sister or like a mother, in a sense of just treating them with utmost respect,” she said. “The ultimate goal is to make them feel comfortable and let them know ‘I’m here to support you.’ ” Her training has inspired her to become an advocate for maternal health issues in southwestern Georgia.

Grants fund Morehouse School of Medicine’s doula program, which costs $350,000 a year to operate. Graduates are given a $2,000 training stipend and the program places five graduates with healthcare providers in southwestern Georgia. Grant money also pays the doulas’ salaries for 1 year. 

“It’s not sustainable if you’re chasing the next grant to fund it,” said Rachel Hardeman, a professor of health and racial equity at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Thirteen states cover doulas through Medicaid, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.

Dr. Hardeman and others have found that when Medicaid programs cover doula care, states save millions of dollars in healthcare costs. “We were able to calculate the return on investment if Medicaid decided to reimburse doulas for pregnant people who are Medicaid beneficiaries,” she said.

That’s because doulas can help reduce the number of expensive medical interventions during and after birth, and improving delivery outcomes, including reduced cesarean sections.

Doulas can even reduce the likelihood of preterm birth. 

“An infant that is born at a very, very early gestational age is going to require a great deal of resources and interventions to ensure that they survive and then continue to thrive,” Dr. Hardeman said.

There is growing demand for doula services in Georgia, said Fowzio Jama, director of research for Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia. Her group recently completed a pilot study that offered doula services to about 170 Georgians covered under Medicaid. “We had a wait-list of over 200 clients and we wanted to give them the support that they needed, but we just couldn’t with the given resources that we had,” Ms. Jama said.

Doula services can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, making it too expensive for many low-income people, rural communities, and communities of color, many of which suffer from shortages in maternity care, according to the March of Dimes.

The Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies study found that matching high-risk patients with doulas — particularly doulas from similar racial and ethnic backgrounds — had a positive effect on patients. 

“There was a reduced use of pitocin to induce labor. We saw fewer requests for pain medication. And with our infants, only 6% were low birth weight,” Ms. Jama said.

Still, she and others acknowledge that doulas alone can’t fix the problem of high maternal mortality and morbidity rates.

States, including Georgia, need to do more to bring comprehensive maternity care to communities that need more options, Dr. Hardeman said.

“I think it’s important to understand that doulas are not going to save us, and we should not put that expectation on them. Doulas are a tool,” she said. “They are a piece of the puzzle that is helping to impact a really, really complex issue.”

In the meantime, Joan Anderson, 55, said she’s excited to get to work supporting patients, especially from rural areas around Albany.

“I feel like I’m equipped to go out and be that voice, be that person that our community needs so bad,” said Ms. Anderson, a graduate of the Morehouse School of Medicine doula program. “I am encouraged to know that I will be joining in that mission, that fight for us, as far as maternal health is concerned.”

Ms. Anderson said that someday she wants to open a birthing center to provide maternity care. “We do not have one here in southwest Georgia at all,” Ms. Anderson said.

In addition to providing support during and after childbirth, Ms. Anderson and her fellow graduates are trained to assess their patients’ needs and connect them to services such as food assistance, mental health care, transportation to prenatal appointments, and breastfeeding assistance.

Their work is likely to have ripple effects across a largely rural corner of Georgia, said Sherrell Byrd, who co-founded and directs SOWEGA Rising, a nonprofit organization in southwestern Georgia.

“So many of the graduates are part of church networks, they are part of community organizations, some of them are our government workers. They’re very connected,” Ms. Byrd said. “And I think that connectedness is what’s going to help them be successful moving forward.”

This reporting is part of a fellowship with the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund. It comes from a partnership that includes WABE, NPR, and KFF Health News.

A version of this article first appeared on KFF Health News.

Rural regions like the one surrounding a southern Iowa town used to have a lot more babies and many more places to give birth to them.

At least 41 Iowa hospitals have shuttered their labor and delivery units since 2000. Those facilities, representing about a third of all Iowa hospitals, are located mostly in rural areas where birth numbers have plummeted. In some Iowa counties, annual numbers of births have fallen by three quarters since the height of the baby boom in the 1950s and 1960s, when many rural hospitals were built or expanded, state and federal records show.

Similar trends are playing out nationwide, as hospitals struggle to maintain staff and facilities to safely handle dwindling numbers of births. More than half of rural US hospitals now lack the service.

“People just aren’t having as many kids,” said Addie Comegys, who lives in southern Iowa and has regularly traveled 45 minutes each way for prenatal checkups at Oskaloosa’s hospital this summer. Her mother had six children, starting in the 1980s, when big families didn’t seem so rare.

“Now, if you have three kids, people are like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you ever going to stop?’ ” said Ms. Comegys, 29, who is expecting her second child in late August.

These days, many Americans choose to have small families or no children at all. Modern birth control methods help make such decisions stick. The trend is amplified in small towns when young adults move away, taking any childbearing potential with them.

Hospital leaders who close obstetrics units often cite declining birth numbers, along with staffing challenges and financial losses. The closures can be a particular challenge for pregnant women who lack the reliable transportation and flexible schedules needed to travel long distances for prenatal care and birthing services.

The baby boom peaked in 1957, when about 4.3 million children were born in the United States. The annual number of births dropped below 3.7 million by 2022, even though the overall US population nearly doubled over that same period.

West Virginia has seen the steepest decline in births, a 62% drop in those 65 years, according to federal data. Iowa’s births dropped 43% over that period. Of the state’s 99 counties, just four — all urban or suburban — recorded more births.

Births have increased in only 13 states since 1957. Most of them, such as Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada, are places that have attracted waves of newcomers from other states and countries. But even those states have had obstetrics units close in rural areas.

In Iowa, Oskaloosa’s hospital has bucked the trend and kept its labor and delivery unit open, partly by pulling in patients from 14 other counties. Last year, the hospital even managed the rare feat of recruiting two obstetrician-gynecologists to expand its services.

The publicly owned hospital, called Mahaska Health, expects to deliver 250 babies this year, up from about 160 in previous years, CEO Kevin DeRonde said.

“It’s an essential service, and we needed to keep it going and grow it,” Mr. DeRonde said.

Many of the US hospitals that are now dropping obstetrics units were built or expanded in the mid-1900s, when America went on a rural-hospital building spree, thanks to federal funding from the Hill-Burton Act.

“It was an amazing program,” said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer for the National Rural Health Association. “Basically, if you were a county that wanted a hospital, they gave you the money.”

Mr. Slabach said that in addition to declining birth numbers, obstetrics units are experiencing a drop in occupancy because most patients go home after a night or two. In the past, patients typically spent several days in the hospital after giving birth.

Dwindling caseloads can raise safety concerns for obstetrics units.

A study published in JAMA in 2023 found that women were more likely to suffer serious complications if they gave birth in rural hospitals that handled 110 or fewer births a year. The authors said they didn’t support closing low-volume units because that could lead more women to have complications related to traveling for care. Instead, they recommended improving training and coordination among rural health providers.

Stephanie Radke, MD, a University of Iowa obstetrics and gynecology professor who studies access to birthing services, said it is almost inevitable that when rural birth numbers plunge, some obstetrics units will close. “We talk about that as a bad event, but we don’t really talk about why it happens,” she said.

Dr. Radke said maintaining a set number of obstetrics units is less important than ensuring good care for pregnant women and their babies. It’s difficult to maintain quality of care when the staff doesn’t consistently practice deliveries, she said, but it is hard to define that line. “What is realistic?” she said. “I don’t think a unit should be open that only delivers 50 babies a year.”

In some cases, she said, hospitals near each other have consolidated obstetrics units, pooling their resources into one program that has enough staffers and handles sufficient cases. “You’re not always really creating a care desert when that happens,” she said.

The decline in births has accelerated in many areas in recent years. Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor and demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said it is understandable that many rural hospitals have closed obstetrics units. “I’m actually surprised some of them have lasted as long as they have,” he said.

Dr. Johnson said rural areas that have seen the steepest population declines tend to be far from cities and lack recreational attractions, such as mountains or large bodies of water. Some have avoided population losses by attracting immigrant workers, who tend to have larger families in the first generation or two after they move to the United States, he said.

Katy B. Kozhimannil, a University of Minnesota health policy professor who studies rural issues, said declining birth numbers and obstetric unit closures can create a vicious cycle. Fewer babies being born in a region can lead a birthing unit to shutter. Then the loss of such a unit can discourage young people from moving to the area, driving birth numbers even lower.

In many regions, people with private insurance, flexible schedules, and reliable transportation choose to travel to larger hospitals for their prenatal care and to give birth, Dr. Kozhimannil said. That leaves rural hospitals with a larger proportion of patients on Medicaid, a public program that pays about half what private insurance pays for the same services, she said.

Iowa ranks near the bottom of all states for obstetrician-gynecologists per capita. But Oskaloosa’s hospital hit the jackpot last year, when it recruited Taylar Swartz Summers, DO, and Garth Summers, DO, a married couple who both recently finished their obstetrics training. Dr. Swartz Summers grew up in the area, and she wanted to return to serve women there.

She hopes the number of obstetrics units will level off after the wave of closures. “It’s not even just for delivery, but we need access just to women’s healthcare in general,” she said. “I would love to see women’s healthcare be at the forefront of our government’s mind.”

Dr. Swartz Summers noted that the state has only one obstetrics training program, which is at the University of Iowa. She said she and her husband plan to help spark interest in rural obstetrics by hosting University of Iowa residency rotations at the Oskaloosa hospital.

Ms. Comegys, a patient of Dr. Swartz Summer’s, could have chosen a hospital birthing center closer to her home, but she wasn’t confident in its quality. Other hospitals in her region had shuttered their obstetrics units. She is grateful to have a flexible job, a reliable car, and a supportive family, so she can travel to Oskaloosa for checkups and to give birth there. She knows many other women are not so lucky, and she worries other obstetrics units are at risk.

“It’s sad, but I could see more closing,” she said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Rural regions like the one surrounding a southern Iowa town used to have a lot more babies and many more places to give birth to them.

At least 41 Iowa hospitals have shuttered their labor and delivery units since 2000. Those facilities, representing about a third of all Iowa hospitals, are located mostly in rural areas where birth numbers have plummeted. In some Iowa counties, annual numbers of births have fallen by three quarters since the height of the baby boom in the 1950s and 1960s, when many rural hospitals were built or expanded, state and federal records show.

Similar trends are playing out nationwide, as hospitals struggle to maintain staff and facilities to safely handle dwindling numbers of births. More than half of rural US hospitals now lack the service.

“People just aren’t having as many kids,” said Addie Comegys, who lives in southern Iowa and has regularly traveled 45 minutes each way for prenatal checkups at Oskaloosa’s hospital this summer. Her mother had six children, starting in the 1980s, when big families didn’t seem so rare.

“Now, if you have three kids, people are like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you ever going to stop?’ ” said Ms. Comegys, 29, who is expecting her second child in late August.

These days, many Americans choose to have small families or no children at all. Modern birth control methods help make such decisions stick. The trend is amplified in small towns when young adults move away, taking any childbearing potential with them.

Hospital leaders who close obstetrics units often cite declining birth numbers, along with staffing challenges and financial losses. The closures can be a particular challenge for pregnant women who lack the reliable transportation and flexible schedules needed to travel long distances for prenatal care and birthing services.

The baby boom peaked in 1957, when about 4.3 million children were born in the United States. The annual number of births dropped below 3.7 million by 2022, even though the overall US population nearly doubled over that same period.

West Virginia has seen the steepest decline in births, a 62% drop in those 65 years, according to federal data. Iowa’s births dropped 43% over that period. Of the state’s 99 counties, just four — all urban or suburban — recorded more births.

Births have increased in only 13 states since 1957. Most of them, such as Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada, are places that have attracted waves of newcomers from other states and countries. But even those states have had obstetrics units close in rural areas.

In Iowa, Oskaloosa’s hospital has bucked the trend and kept its labor and delivery unit open, partly by pulling in patients from 14 other counties. Last year, the hospital even managed the rare feat of recruiting two obstetrician-gynecologists to expand its services.

The publicly owned hospital, called Mahaska Health, expects to deliver 250 babies this year, up from about 160 in previous years, CEO Kevin DeRonde said.

“It’s an essential service, and we needed to keep it going and grow it,” Mr. DeRonde said.

Many of the US hospitals that are now dropping obstetrics units were built or expanded in the mid-1900s, when America went on a rural-hospital building spree, thanks to federal funding from the Hill-Burton Act.

“It was an amazing program,” said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer for the National Rural Health Association. “Basically, if you were a county that wanted a hospital, they gave you the money.”

Mr. Slabach said that in addition to declining birth numbers, obstetrics units are experiencing a drop in occupancy because most patients go home after a night or two. In the past, patients typically spent several days in the hospital after giving birth.

Dwindling caseloads can raise safety concerns for obstetrics units.

A study published in JAMA in 2023 found that women were more likely to suffer serious complications if they gave birth in rural hospitals that handled 110 or fewer births a year. The authors said they didn’t support closing low-volume units because that could lead more women to have complications related to traveling for care. Instead, they recommended improving training and coordination among rural health providers.

Stephanie Radke, MD, a University of Iowa obstetrics and gynecology professor who studies access to birthing services, said it is almost inevitable that when rural birth numbers plunge, some obstetrics units will close. “We talk about that as a bad event, but we don’t really talk about why it happens,” she said.

Dr. Radke said maintaining a set number of obstetrics units is less important than ensuring good care for pregnant women and their babies. It’s difficult to maintain quality of care when the staff doesn’t consistently practice deliveries, she said, but it is hard to define that line. “What is realistic?” she said. “I don’t think a unit should be open that only delivers 50 babies a year.”

In some cases, she said, hospitals near each other have consolidated obstetrics units, pooling their resources into one program that has enough staffers and handles sufficient cases. “You’re not always really creating a care desert when that happens,” she said.

The decline in births has accelerated in many areas in recent years. Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor and demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said it is understandable that many rural hospitals have closed obstetrics units. “I’m actually surprised some of them have lasted as long as they have,” he said.

Dr. Johnson said rural areas that have seen the steepest population declines tend to be far from cities and lack recreational attractions, such as mountains or large bodies of water. Some have avoided population losses by attracting immigrant workers, who tend to have larger families in the first generation or two after they move to the United States, he said.

Katy B. Kozhimannil, a University of Minnesota health policy professor who studies rural issues, said declining birth numbers and obstetric unit closures can create a vicious cycle. Fewer babies being born in a region can lead a birthing unit to shutter. Then the loss of such a unit can discourage young people from moving to the area, driving birth numbers even lower.

In many regions, people with private insurance, flexible schedules, and reliable transportation choose to travel to larger hospitals for their prenatal care and to give birth, Dr. Kozhimannil said. That leaves rural hospitals with a larger proportion of patients on Medicaid, a public program that pays about half what private insurance pays for the same services, she said.

Iowa ranks near the bottom of all states for obstetrician-gynecologists per capita. But Oskaloosa’s hospital hit the jackpot last year, when it recruited Taylar Swartz Summers, DO, and Garth Summers, DO, a married couple who both recently finished their obstetrics training. Dr. Swartz Summers grew up in the area, and she wanted to return to serve women there.

She hopes the number of obstetrics units will level off after the wave of closures. “It’s not even just for delivery, but we need access just to women’s healthcare in general,” she said. “I would love to see women’s healthcare be at the forefront of our government’s mind.”

Dr. Swartz Summers noted that the state has only one obstetrics training program, which is at the University of Iowa. She said she and her husband plan to help spark interest in rural obstetrics by hosting University of Iowa residency rotations at the Oskaloosa hospital.

Ms. Comegys, a patient of Dr. Swartz Summer’s, could have chosen a hospital birthing center closer to her home, but she wasn’t confident in its quality. Other hospitals in her region had shuttered their obstetrics units. She is grateful to have a flexible job, a reliable car, and a supportive family, so she can travel to Oskaloosa for checkups and to give birth there. She knows many other women are not so lucky, and she worries other obstetrics units are at risk.

“It’s sad, but I could see more closing,” she said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Rural regions like the one surrounding a southern Iowa town used to have a lot more babies and many more places to give birth to them.

At least 41 Iowa hospitals have shuttered their labor and delivery units since 2000. Those facilities, representing about a third of all Iowa hospitals, are located mostly in rural areas where birth numbers have plummeted. In some Iowa counties, annual numbers of births have fallen by three quarters since the height of the baby boom in the 1950s and 1960s, when many rural hospitals were built or expanded, state and federal records show.

Similar trends are playing out nationwide, as hospitals struggle to maintain staff and facilities to safely handle dwindling numbers of births. More than half of rural US hospitals now lack the service.

“People just aren’t having as many kids,” said Addie Comegys, who lives in southern Iowa and has regularly traveled 45 minutes each way for prenatal checkups at Oskaloosa’s hospital this summer. Her mother had six children, starting in the 1980s, when big families didn’t seem so rare.

“Now, if you have three kids, people are like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you ever going to stop?’ ” said Ms. Comegys, 29, who is expecting her second child in late August.

These days, many Americans choose to have small families or no children at all. Modern birth control methods help make such decisions stick. The trend is amplified in small towns when young adults move away, taking any childbearing potential with them.

Hospital leaders who close obstetrics units often cite declining birth numbers, along with staffing challenges and financial losses. The closures can be a particular challenge for pregnant women who lack the reliable transportation and flexible schedules needed to travel long distances for prenatal care and birthing services.

The baby boom peaked in 1957, when about 4.3 million children were born in the United States. The annual number of births dropped below 3.7 million by 2022, even though the overall US population nearly doubled over that same period.

West Virginia has seen the steepest decline in births, a 62% drop in those 65 years, according to federal data. Iowa’s births dropped 43% over that period. Of the state’s 99 counties, just four — all urban or suburban — recorded more births.

Births have increased in only 13 states since 1957. Most of them, such as Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada, are places that have attracted waves of newcomers from other states and countries. But even those states have had obstetrics units close in rural areas.

In Iowa, Oskaloosa’s hospital has bucked the trend and kept its labor and delivery unit open, partly by pulling in patients from 14 other counties. Last year, the hospital even managed the rare feat of recruiting two obstetrician-gynecologists to expand its services.

The publicly owned hospital, called Mahaska Health, expects to deliver 250 babies this year, up from about 160 in previous years, CEO Kevin DeRonde said.

“It’s an essential service, and we needed to keep it going and grow it,” Mr. DeRonde said.

Many of the US hospitals that are now dropping obstetrics units were built or expanded in the mid-1900s, when America went on a rural-hospital building spree, thanks to federal funding from the Hill-Burton Act.

“It was an amazing program,” said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer for the National Rural Health Association. “Basically, if you were a county that wanted a hospital, they gave you the money.”

Mr. Slabach said that in addition to declining birth numbers, obstetrics units are experiencing a drop in occupancy because most patients go home after a night or two. In the past, patients typically spent several days in the hospital after giving birth.

Dwindling caseloads can raise safety concerns for obstetrics units.

A study published in JAMA in 2023 found that women were more likely to suffer serious complications if they gave birth in rural hospitals that handled 110 or fewer births a year. The authors said they didn’t support closing low-volume units because that could lead more women to have complications related to traveling for care. Instead, they recommended improving training and coordination among rural health providers.

Stephanie Radke, MD, a University of Iowa obstetrics and gynecology professor who studies access to birthing services, said it is almost inevitable that when rural birth numbers plunge, some obstetrics units will close. “We talk about that as a bad event, but we don’t really talk about why it happens,” she said.

Dr. Radke said maintaining a set number of obstetrics units is less important than ensuring good care for pregnant women and their babies. It’s difficult to maintain quality of care when the staff doesn’t consistently practice deliveries, she said, but it is hard to define that line. “What is realistic?” she said. “I don’t think a unit should be open that only delivers 50 babies a year.”

In some cases, she said, hospitals near each other have consolidated obstetrics units, pooling their resources into one program that has enough staffers and handles sufficient cases. “You’re not always really creating a care desert when that happens,” she said.

The decline in births has accelerated in many areas in recent years. Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor and demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said it is understandable that many rural hospitals have closed obstetrics units. “I’m actually surprised some of them have lasted as long as they have,” he said.

Dr. Johnson said rural areas that have seen the steepest population declines tend to be far from cities and lack recreational attractions, such as mountains or large bodies of water. Some have avoided population losses by attracting immigrant workers, who tend to have larger families in the first generation or two after they move to the United States, he said.

Katy B. Kozhimannil, a University of Minnesota health policy professor who studies rural issues, said declining birth numbers and obstetric unit closures can create a vicious cycle. Fewer babies being born in a region can lead a birthing unit to shutter. Then the loss of such a unit can discourage young people from moving to the area, driving birth numbers even lower.

In many regions, people with private insurance, flexible schedules, and reliable transportation choose to travel to larger hospitals for their prenatal care and to give birth, Dr. Kozhimannil said. That leaves rural hospitals with a larger proportion of patients on Medicaid, a public program that pays about half what private insurance pays for the same services, she said.

Iowa ranks near the bottom of all states for obstetrician-gynecologists per capita. But Oskaloosa’s hospital hit the jackpot last year, when it recruited Taylar Swartz Summers, DO, and Garth Summers, DO, a married couple who both recently finished their obstetrics training. Dr. Swartz Summers grew up in the area, and she wanted to return to serve women there.

She hopes the number of obstetrics units will level off after the wave of closures. “It’s not even just for delivery, but we need access just to women’s healthcare in general,” she said. “I would love to see women’s healthcare be at the forefront of our government’s mind.”

Dr. Swartz Summers noted that the state has only one obstetrics training program, which is at the University of Iowa. She said she and her husband plan to help spark interest in rural obstetrics by hosting University of Iowa residency rotations at the Oskaloosa hospital.

Ms. Comegys, a patient of Dr. Swartz Summer’s, could have chosen a hospital birthing center closer to her home, but she wasn’t confident in its quality. Other hospitals in her region had shuttered their obstetrics units. She is grateful to have a flexible job, a reliable car, and a supportive family, so she can travel to Oskaloosa for checkups and to give birth there. She knows many other women are not so lucky, and she worries other obstetrics units are at risk.

“It’s sad, but I could see more closing,” she said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Preconception and prenatal care are more complicated in women with chronic health conditions but attention to disease management and promoting the adoption of a healthier lifestyle can improve outcomes for mothers and infants, according to a growing body of research.

The latest version of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Preconception Checklist, published in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, highlights preexisting chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, lupus, and obesity as key factors to address in preconception care through disease management. A growing number of studies support the impact of these strategies on short- and long-term outcomes for mothers and babies, according to the authors.
 

Meet Glycemic Control Goals Prior to Pregnancy

“Women with diabetes can have healthy pregnancies but need to prepare for pregnancy in advance,” Ellen W. Seely, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of clinical research in the endocrinology, diabetes, and hypertension division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, said in an interview.

“If glucose levels are running high in the first trimester, this is associated with an increased risk of birth defects, some of which are very serious,” said Dr. Seely. Getting glucose levels under control reduces the risk of birth defects in women with diabetes close to that of the general population, she said.

The American Diabetes Association has set a goal for women to attain an HbA1c of less than 6.5% before conception, Dr. Seely said. “In addition, some women with diabetes may be on medications that should be changed to another class prior to pregnancy,” she noted. Women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes often have hypertension as well, but ACE inhibitors are associated with an increased risk of fetal renal damage that can result in neonatal death; therefore, these medications should be stopped prior to pregnancy, Dr. Seely emphasized.

“If a woman with type 2 diabetes is on medications other than insulin, recommendations from the ADA are to change to insulin prior to pregnancy, since we have the most data on the safety profile of insulin use in pregnancy,” she said.

To help women with diabetes improve glycemic control prior to pregnancy, Dr. Seely recommends home glucose monitoring, with checks of glucose four times a day, fasting, and 2 hours after each meal, and adjustment of insulin accordingly.

A healthy diet and physical activity remain important components of glycemic control as well. A barrier to proper preconception and prenatal care for women with diabetes is not knowing that a pregnancy should be planned, Dr. Seely said. Discussions about pregnancy should start at puberty for women with diabetes, according to the ADA, and the topic should be raised yearly so women can optimize their health and adjust medications prior to conception.

Although studies of drugs have been done to inform preconception care for women with diabetes, research is lacking in several areas, notably the safety of GLP-1 agonists in pregnancy, said Dr. Seely. “This class of drug is commonly used in type 2 diabetes and the current recommendation is to stop these agents 2 months prior to conception,” she said.
 

Conceive in Times of Lupus Remission

Advance planning also is important for a healthy pregnancy in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sayna Norouzi, MD, director of the glomerular disease clinic and polycystic kidney disease clinic of Loma Linda University Medical Center, California, said in an interview.

“Lupus mostly affects women of childbearing age and can create many challenges during pregnancy,” said Dr. Norouzi, the corresponding author of a recent review on managing lupus nephritis during pregnancy.

“Women with lupus face an increased risk of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, problems with fetal growth, stillbirth, and premature birth, and these risks increase based on factors such as disease activity, certain antibodies in the body, and other baseline existing conditions such as high blood pressure,” she said.

“It can be difficult to distinguish between a lupus flare and pregnancy-related issues, so proper management is important,” she noted. The Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (PROMISSE) study findings indicated a lupus nephritis relapse rate of 7.8% of patients in complete remission and 21% of those in partial remission during pregnancy, said Dr. Norouzi. “Current evidence has shown that SLE patients without lupus nephritis flare in the preconception period have a small risk of relapse during pregnancy,” she said.

Before and during pregnancy, women with lupus should work with their treating physicians to adjust medications for safety, watch for signs of flare, and aim to conceive during a period of lupus remission.

Preconception care for women with lupus nephritis involves a careful review of the medications used to control the disease and protect the kidneys and other organs, said Dr. Norouzi.

“Adjustments,” she said, “should be personalized, taking into account the mother’s health and the safety of the baby. Managing the disease actively during pregnancy may require changes to the treatment plan while minimizing risks,” she noted. However, changing medications can cause challenges for patients, as medications that are safer for pregnancy may lead to new symptoms and side effects, and patients will need to work closely with their healthcare providers to overcome new issues that arise, she added.

Preconception lifestyle changes such as increasing exercise and adopting a healthier diet can help with blood pressure control for kidney disease patients, said Dr. Norouzi.

In the review article, Dr. Norouzi and colleagues noted that preconception counseling for patients with lupus should address common comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia, and the risk for immediate and long-term cardiovascular complications.
 

Benefits of Preconception Obesity Care Extend to Infants

Current guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Institute of Medicine advise lifestyle interventions to reduce excessive weight gain during pregnancy and reduce the risk of inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and lipotoxicity that can promote complications in the mother and fetus during pregnancy.

In addition, a growing number of studies suggest that women with obesity who make healthy lifestyle changes prior to conception can reduce obesity-associated risks to their infants.

Adults born to women with obesity are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and early signs of heart remodeling are identifiable in newborns, Samuel J. Burden, PhD, a research associate in the department of women and children’s health, Kings’ College, London, said in an interview. “It is therefore important to investigate whether intervening either before or during pregnancy by promoting a healthy lifestyle can reduce this adverse impact on the heart and blood vessels,” he said.

In a recent study published in the International Journal of Obesity, Dr. Burden and colleagues examined data from eight studies based on data from five randomized, controlled trials including children of mothers with obesity who engaged in healthy lifestyle interventions of improved diet and increased physical activity prior to and during pregnancy. The study population included children ranging in age from less than 2 months to 3-7 years.

Lifestyle interventions for mothers both before conception and during pregnancy were associated with significant changes in cardiac remodeling in the children, notably reduced interventricular septal wall thickness. Additionally, five studies of cardiac systolic function and three studies of diastolic function showed improvement in blood pressure in children of mothers who took part in the interventions.

Dr. Burden acknowledged that lifestyle changes in women with obesity before conception and during pregnancy can be challenging, but should be encouraged. “During pregnancy, it may also seem unnatural to increase daily physical activity or change the way you are eating.” He emphasized that patients should consult their physicians and follow an established program. More randomized, controlled trials are needed from the preconception period to examine whether the health benefits are greater if the intervention begins prior to pregnancy, said Dr. Burden. However, “the current findings indeed indicate that women with obesity who lead a healthy lifestyle before and during their pregnancy can reduce the degree of unhealthy heart remodeling in their children,” he said.

Dr. Seely, Dr. Norouzi, and Dr. Burden had no financial conflicts to disclose.

Preconception and prenatal care are more complicated in women with chronic health conditions but attention to disease management and promoting the adoption of a healthier lifestyle can improve outcomes for mothers and infants, according to a growing body of research.

The latest version of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Preconception Checklist, published in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, highlights preexisting chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, lupus, and obesity as key factors to address in preconception care through disease management. A growing number of studies support the impact of these strategies on short- and long-term outcomes for mothers and babies, according to the authors.
 

Meet Glycemic Control Goals Prior to Pregnancy

“Women with diabetes can have healthy pregnancies but need to prepare for pregnancy in advance,” Ellen W. Seely, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of clinical research in the endocrinology, diabetes, and hypertension division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, said in an interview.

“If glucose levels are running high in the first trimester, this is associated with an increased risk of birth defects, some of which are very serious,” said Dr. Seely. Getting glucose levels under control reduces the risk of birth defects in women with diabetes close to that of the general population, she said.

The American Diabetes Association has set a goal for women to attain an HbA1c of less than 6.5% before conception, Dr. Seely said. “In addition, some women with diabetes may be on medications that should be changed to another class prior to pregnancy,” she noted. Women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes often have hypertension as well, but ACE inhibitors are associated with an increased risk of fetal renal damage that can result in neonatal death; therefore, these medications should be stopped prior to pregnancy, Dr. Seely emphasized.

“If a woman with type 2 diabetes is on medications other than insulin, recommendations from the ADA are to change to insulin prior to pregnancy, since we have the most data on the safety profile of insulin use in pregnancy,” she said.

To help women with diabetes improve glycemic control prior to pregnancy, Dr. Seely recommends home glucose monitoring, with checks of glucose four times a day, fasting, and 2 hours after each meal, and adjustment of insulin accordingly.

A healthy diet and physical activity remain important components of glycemic control as well. A barrier to proper preconception and prenatal care for women with diabetes is not knowing that a pregnancy should be planned, Dr. Seely said. Discussions about pregnancy should start at puberty for women with diabetes, according to the ADA, and the topic should be raised yearly so women can optimize their health and adjust medications prior to conception.

Although studies of drugs have been done to inform preconception care for women with diabetes, research is lacking in several areas, notably the safety of GLP-1 agonists in pregnancy, said Dr. Seely. “This class of drug is commonly used in type 2 diabetes and the current recommendation is to stop these agents 2 months prior to conception,” she said.
 

Conceive in Times of Lupus Remission

Advance planning also is important for a healthy pregnancy in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sayna Norouzi, MD, director of the glomerular disease clinic and polycystic kidney disease clinic of Loma Linda University Medical Center, California, said in an interview.

“Lupus mostly affects women of childbearing age and can create many challenges during pregnancy,” said Dr. Norouzi, the corresponding author of a recent review on managing lupus nephritis during pregnancy.

“Women with lupus face an increased risk of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, problems with fetal growth, stillbirth, and premature birth, and these risks increase based on factors such as disease activity, certain antibodies in the body, and other baseline existing conditions such as high blood pressure,” she said.

“It can be difficult to distinguish between a lupus flare and pregnancy-related issues, so proper management is important,” she noted. The Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (PROMISSE) study findings indicated a lupus nephritis relapse rate of 7.8% of patients in complete remission and 21% of those in partial remission during pregnancy, said Dr. Norouzi. “Current evidence has shown that SLE patients without lupus nephritis flare in the preconception period have a small risk of relapse during pregnancy,” she said.

Before and during pregnancy, women with lupus should work with their treating physicians to adjust medications for safety, watch for signs of flare, and aim to conceive during a period of lupus remission.

Preconception care for women with lupus nephritis involves a careful review of the medications used to control the disease and protect the kidneys and other organs, said Dr. Norouzi.

“Adjustments,” she said, “should be personalized, taking into account the mother’s health and the safety of the baby. Managing the disease actively during pregnancy may require changes to the treatment plan while minimizing risks,” she noted. However, changing medications can cause challenges for patients, as medications that are safer for pregnancy may lead to new symptoms and side effects, and patients will need to work closely with their healthcare providers to overcome new issues that arise, she added.

Preconception lifestyle changes such as increasing exercise and adopting a healthier diet can help with blood pressure control for kidney disease patients, said Dr. Norouzi.

In the review article, Dr. Norouzi and colleagues noted that preconception counseling for patients with lupus should address common comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia, and the risk for immediate and long-term cardiovascular complications.
 

Benefits of Preconception Obesity Care Extend to Infants

Current guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Institute of Medicine advise lifestyle interventions to reduce excessive weight gain during pregnancy and reduce the risk of inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and lipotoxicity that can promote complications in the mother and fetus during pregnancy.

In addition, a growing number of studies suggest that women with obesity who make healthy lifestyle changes prior to conception can reduce obesity-associated risks to their infants.

Adults born to women with obesity are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and early signs of heart remodeling are identifiable in newborns, Samuel J. Burden, PhD, a research associate in the department of women and children’s health, Kings’ College, London, said in an interview. “It is therefore important to investigate whether intervening either before or during pregnancy by promoting a healthy lifestyle can reduce this adverse impact on the heart and blood vessels,” he said.

In a recent study published in the International Journal of Obesity, Dr. Burden and colleagues examined data from eight studies based on data from five randomized, controlled trials including children of mothers with obesity who engaged in healthy lifestyle interventions of improved diet and increased physical activity prior to and during pregnancy. The study population included children ranging in age from less than 2 months to 3-7 years.

Lifestyle interventions for mothers both before conception and during pregnancy were associated with significant changes in cardiac remodeling in the children, notably reduced interventricular septal wall thickness. Additionally, five studies of cardiac systolic function and three studies of diastolic function showed improvement in blood pressure in children of mothers who took part in the interventions.

Dr. Burden acknowledged that lifestyle changes in women with obesity before conception and during pregnancy can be challenging, but should be encouraged. “During pregnancy, it may also seem unnatural to increase daily physical activity or change the way you are eating.” He emphasized that patients should consult their physicians and follow an established program. More randomized, controlled trials are needed from the preconception period to examine whether the health benefits are greater if the intervention begins prior to pregnancy, said Dr. Burden. However, “the current findings indeed indicate that women with obesity who lead a healthy lifestyle before and during their pregnancy can reduce the degree of unhealthy heart remodeling in their children,” he said.

Dr. Seely, Dr. Norouzi, and Dr. Burden had no financial conflicts to disclose.

Preconception and prenatal care are more complicated in women with chronic health conditions but attention to disease management and promoting the adoption of a healthier lifestyle can improve outcomes for mothers and infants, according to a growing body of research.

The latest version of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Preconception Checklist, published in the International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, highlights preexisting chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, lupus, and obesity as key factors to address in preconception care through disease management. A growing number of studies support the impact of these strategies on short- and long-term outcomes for mothers and babies, according to the authors.
 

Meet Glycemic Control Goals Prior to Pregnancy

“Women with diabetes can have healthy pregnancies but need to prepare for pregnancy in advance,” Ellen W. Seely, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of clinical research in the endocrinology, diabetes, and hypertension division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, said in an interview.

“If glucose levels are running high in the first trimester, this is associated with an increased risk of birth defects, some of which are very serious,” said Dr. Seely. Getting glucose levels under control reduces the risk of birth defects in women with diabetes close to that of the general population, she said.

The American Diabetes Association has set a goal for women to attain an HbA1c of less than 6.5% before conception, Dr. Seely said. “In addition, some women with diabetes may be on medications that should be changed to another class prior to pregnancy,” she noted. Women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes often have hypertension as well, but ACE inhibitors are associated with an increased risk of fetal renal damage that can result in neonatal death; therefore, these medications should be stopped prior to pregnancy, Dr. Seely emphasized.

“If a woman with type 2 diabetes is on medications other than insulin, recommendations from the ADA are to change to insulin prior to pregnancy, since we have the most data on the safety profile of insulin use in pregnancy,” she said.

To help women with diabetes improve glycemic control prior to pregnancy, Dr. Seely recommends home glucose monitoring, with checks of glucose four times a day, fasting, and 2 hours after each meal, and adjustment of insulin accordingly.

A healthy diet and physical activity remain important components of glycemic control as well. A barrier to proper preconception and prenatal care for women with diabetes is not knowing that a pregnancy should be planned, Dr. Seely said. Discussions about pregnancy should start at puberty for women with diabetes, according to the ADA, and the topic should be raised yearly so women can optimize their health and adjust medications prior to conception.

Although studies of drugs have been done to inform preconception care for women with diabetes, research is lacking in several areas, notably the safety of GLP-1 agonists in pregnancy, said Dr. Seely. “This class of drug is commonly used in type 2 diabetes and the current recommendation is to stop these agents 2 months prior to conception,” she said.
 

Conceive in Times of Lupus Remission

Advance planning also is important for a healthy pregnancy in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sayna Norouzi, MD, director of the glomerular disease clinic and polycystic kidney disease clinic of Loma Linda University Medical Center, California, said in an interview.

“Lupus mostly affects women of childbearing age and can create many challenges during pregnancy,” said Dr. Norouzi, the corresponding author of a recent review on managing lupus nephritis during pregnancy.

“Women with lupus face an increased risk of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, problems with fetal growth, stillbirth, and premature birth, and these risks increase based on factors such as disease activity, certain antibodies in the body, and other baseline existing conditions such as high blood pressure,” she said.

“It can be difficult to distinguish between a lupus flare and pregnancy-related issues, so proper management is important,” she noted. The Predictors of Pregnancy Outcome: Biomarkers in Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (PROMISSE) study findings indicated a lupus nephritis relapse rate of 7.8% of patients in complete remission and 21% of those in partial remission during pregnancy, said Dr. Norouzi. “Current evidence has shown that SLE patients without lupus nephritis flare in the preconception period have a small risk of relapse during pregnancy,” she said.

Before and during pregnancy, women with lupus should work with their treating physicians to adjust medications for safety, watch for signs of flare, and aim to conceive during a period of lupus remission.

Preconception care for women with lupus nephritis involves a careful review of the medications used to control the disease and protect the kidneys and other organs, said Dr. Norouzi.

“Adjustments,” she said, “should be personalized, taking into account the mother’s health and the safety of the baby. Managing the disease actively during pregnancy may require changes to the treatment plan while minimizing risks,” she noted. However, changing medications can cause challenges for patients, as medications that are safer for pregnancy may lead to new symptoms and side effects, and patients will need to work closely with their healthcare providers to overcome new issues that arise, she added.

Preconception lifestyle changes such as increasing exercise and adopting a healthier diet can help with blood pressure control for kidney disease patients, said Dr. Norouzi.

In the review article, Dr. Norouzi and colleagues noted that preconception counseling for patients with lupus should address common comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia, and the risk for immediate and long-term cardiovascular complications.
 

Benefits of Preconception Obesity Care Extend to Infants

Current guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Institute of Medicine advise lifestyle interventions to reduce excessive weight gain during pregnancy and reduce the risk of inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and lipotoxicity that can promote complications in the mother and fetus during pregnancy.

In addition, a growing number of studies suggest that women with obesity who make healthy lifestyle changes prior to conception can reduce obesity-associated risks to their infants.

Adults born to women with obesity are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and early signs of heart remodeling are identifiable in newborns, Samuel J. Burden, PhD, a research associate in the department of women and children’s health, Kings’ College, London, said in an interview. “It is therefore important to investigate whether intervening either before or during pregnancy by promoting a healthy lifestyle can reduce this adverse impact on the heart and blood vessels,” he said.

In a recent study published in the International Journal of Obesity, Dr. Burden and colleagues examined data from eight studies based on data from five randomized, controlled trials including children of mothers with obesity who engaged in healthy lifestyle interventions of improved diet and increased physical activity prior to and during pregnancy. The study population included children ranging in age from less than 2 months to 3-7 years.

Lifestyle interventions for mothers both before conception and during pregnancy were associated with significant changes in cardiac remodeling in the children, notably reduced interventricular septal wall thickness. Additionally, five studies of cardiac systolic function and three studies of diastolic function showed improvement in blood pressure in children of mothers who took part in the interventions.

Dr. Burden acknowledged that lifestyle changes in women with obesity before conception and during pregnancy can be challenging, but should be encouraged. “During pregnancy, it may also seem unnatural to increase daily physical activity or change the way you are eating.” He emphasized that patients should consult their physicians and follow an established program. More randomized, controlled trials are needed from the preconception period to examine whether the health benefits are greater if the intervention begins prior to pregnancy, said Dr. Burden. However, “the current findings indeed indicate that women with obesity who lead a healthy lifestyle before and during their pregnancy can reduce the degree of unhealthy heart remodeling in their children,” he said.

Dr. Seely, Dr. Norouzi, and Dr. Burden had no financial conflicts to disclose.

HELSINKI, FINLAND — When it comes to caring for women with epilepsy who become pregnant, there is a great deal of room for improvement, experts say. 

“Too many women with epilepsy receive information about epilepsy and pregnancy only after pregnancy. We can do better,” Torbjörn Tomson, MD, PhD, senior professor of neurology and epileptology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, told delegates attending the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology 2024.

The goal in epilepsy is to maintain seizure control while minimizing exposure to potentially teratogenic medications, Dr. Tomson said. He added that pregnancy planning in women with epilepsy is important but also conceded that most pregnancies in this patient population are unplanned. 

Overall, it’s important to tell patients that “there is a high likelihood of an uneventful pregnancy and a healthy offspring,” he said. 

In recent years, new data have emerged on the risks to the fetus with exposure to different antiseizure medications (ASMs), said Dr. Tomson. This has led regulators, such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, to issue restrictions on the use of some ASMs, particularly valproate and topiramate, in females of childbearing age. 

Session chair Marte Bjørk, MD, PhD, of the Department of Neurology of Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, questioned whether the latest recommendations from regulatory authorities have “sacrificed seizure control at the expense of teratogenic safety.”

To an extent, this is true, said Dr. Tomson, “as the regulations prioritize fetal health over women’s health.” However, “we have not seen poorer seizure control with newer medications” in recent datasets. 

It’s about good planning, said Dr. Bjork, who is responsible for the clinical guidelines for treatment of epilepsy in pregnancy in Norway. 
 

Start With Folic Acid

One simple measure is to ensure that all women with epilepsy of childbearing age are prescribed low-dose folic acid, Dr. Tomson said — even those who report that they are not considering pregnancy. 

When it comes to folic acid, recently published guidelines on ASM use during pregnancy are relatively straightforward, he said.

The data do not show that folic acid reduces the risk for major congenital malformations, but they do show that it improves neurocognitive outcomes in children of mothers who received folic acid supplements prior to and throughout pregnancy.

Dr. Tomson said the new American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guidelines recommend a dosage of 0.4 mg/d, which balances the demonstrated benefits of supplementation and potential negative consequences of high doses of folic acid. 

“Consider 0.4 mg of folic acid for all women on ASMs that are of childbearing potential, whether they become pregnant or not,” he said. However, well-designed, preferably randomized, studies are needed to better define the optimal folic acid dosing for pregnancy in women with epilepsy. 
 

Choosing the Right ASM 

The choice of the most appropriate ASM in pregnancy is based on the potential for an individual drug to cause major congenital malformations and, in more recent years, the likelihood that a woman with epilepsy is using any other medications associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring. 

Balanced against this must be the effect of pregnancy on seizure control, and the maternal and fetal risks associated with seizures during pregnancy.

“There are ways to optimize seizure control and to reduce teratogenic risks,” said Dr. Tomson, adding that the new AAN guidelines provide updated evidence-based conclusions on this topic.

The good news is that “there has been almost a 40% decline in the rate of major congenital malformations associated with ASM use in pregnancy, in parallel with a shift from use of ASMs such as carbamazepine and valproate to lamotrigine and levetiracetam.” The latter two medications are associated with a much lower risk for such birth defects, he added. 

This is based on the average rate of major congenital malformations in the EURAP registry that tracks the comparative risk for major fetal malformations after ASM use during pregnancy in over 40 countries. The latest reporting from the registry shows that this risk has decreased from 6.1% in 1998-2004 to 3.7% in 2015-2022.

Taking valproate during pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk for neurodevelopmental outcomes, including autism spectrum disorder. However, the jury is still out on whether topiramate escalates the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, because findings across studies have been inconsistent.

Overall, the AAN guidance, and similar advice from European regulatory authorities, is that valproate is associated with high risk for major congenital malformations and neurodevelopmental disorders. Topiramate has also been shown to increase the risk for major congenital malformations. Consequently, these two anticonvulsants are generally contraindicated in pregnancy, Dr. Tomson noted.

On the other hand, levetiracetam, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine seem to be the safest ASMs with respect to congenital malformation risk, and lamotrigine has the best documented safety profile when it comes to the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Although there are newer ASMs on the market, including brivaracetam, cannabidiol, cenobamate, eslicarbazepine acetate, fenfluramine, lacosamide, perampanel, and zonisamide, at this juncture data on the risk potential of these agents are insufficient.

“For some of these newer meds, we don’t even have a single exposure in our large databases, even if you combine them all. We need to collect more data, and that will take time,” Dr. Tomson said. 
 

Dose Optimization 

Dose optimization of ASMs is also important — and for this to be accurate, it’s important to document an individual’s optimal ASM serum levels before pregnancy that can be used as a baseline target during pregnancy. However, Dr. Tomson noted, this information is not always available.

He pointed out that, with many ASMs, there can be a significant decline in serum concentration levels during pregnancy, which can increase seizure risk.

To address the uncertainty surrounding this issue, Dr. Tomson recommended that physicians consider future pregnancy when prescribing ASMs to women of childbearing age. He also advised discussing contraception with these patients, even if they indicate they are not currently planning to conceive.

The data clearly show the importance of planning a pregnancy so that the most appropriate and safest medications are prescribed, he said.

Dr. Tomson reported receiving research support, on behalf of EURAP, from Accord, Angelini, Bial, EcuPharma, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, Glenmark, GW Pharma, Hazz, Sanofi, Teva, USB, Zentiva, and SF Group. He has received speakers’ honoraria from Angelini, Eisai, and UCB. Dr. Bjørk reports receiving speakers’ honoraria from Pfizer, Eisai, AbbVie, Best Practice, Lilly, Novartis, and Teva. She has received unrestricted educational grants from The Research Council of Norway, the Research Council of the Nordic Countries (NordForsk), and the Norwegian Epilepsy Association. She has received consulting honoraria from Novartis and is on the advisory board of Eisai, Lundbeck, Angelini Pharma, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Bjørk also received institutional grants from marked authorization holders of valproate.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

HELSINKI, FINLAND — When it comes to caring for women with epilepsy who become pregnant, there is a great deal of room for improvement, experts say. 

“Too many women with epilepsy receive information about epilepsy and pregnancy only after pregnancy. We can do better,” Torbjörn Tomson, MD, PhD, senior professor of neurology and epileptology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, told delegates attending the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology 2024.

The goal in epilepsy is to maintain seizure control while minimizing exposure to potentially teratogenic medications, Dr. Tomson said. He added that pregnancy planning in women with epilepsy is important but also conceded that most pregnancies in this patient population are unplanned. 

Overall, it’s important to tell patients that “there is a high likelihood of an uneventful pregnancy and a healthy offspring,” he said. 

In recent years, new data have emerged on the risks to the fetus with exposure to different antiseizure medications (ASMs), said Dr. Tomson. This has led regulators, such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, to issue restrictions on the use of some ASMs, particularly valproate and topiramate, in females of childbearing age. 

Session chair Marte Bjørk, MD, PhD, of the Department of Neurology of Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, questioned whether the latest recommendations from regulatory authorities have “sacrificed seizure control at the expense of teratogenic safety.”

To an extent, this is true, said Dr. Tomson, “as the regulations prioritize fetal health over women’s health.” However, “we have not seen poorer seizure control with newer medications” in recent datasets. 

It’s about good planning, said Dr. Bjork, who is responsible for the clinical guidelines for treatment of epilepsy in pregnancy in Norway. 
 

Start With Folic Acid

One simple measure is to ensure that all women with epilepsy of childbearing age are prescribed low-dose folic acid, Dr. Tomson said — even those who report that they are not considering pregnancy. 

When it comes to folic acid, recently published guidelines on ASM use during pregnancy are relatively straightforward, he said.

The data do not show that folic acid reduces the risk for major congenital malformations, but they do show that it improves neurocognitive outcomes in children of mothers who received folic acid supplements prior to and throughout pregnancy.

Dr. Tomson said the new American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guidelines recommend a dosage of 0.4 mg/d, which balances the demonstrated benefits of supplementation and potential negative consequences of high doses of folic acid. 

“Consider 0.4 mg of folic acid for all women on ASMs that are of childbearing potential, whether they become pregnant or not,” he said. However, well-designed, preferably randomized, studies are needed to better define the optimal folic acid dosing for pregnancy in women with epilepsy. 
 

Choosing the Right ASM 

The choice of the most appropriate ASM in pregnancy is based on the potential for an individual drug to cause major congenital malformations and, in more recent years, the likelihood that a woman with epilepsy is using any other medications associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring. 

Balanced against this must be the effect of pregnancy on seizure control, and the maternal and fetal risks associated with seizures during pregnancy.

“There are ways to optimize seizure control and to reduce teratogenic risks,” said Dr. Tomson, adding that the new AAN guidelines provide updated evidence-based conclusions on this topic.

The good news is that “there has been almost a 40% decline in the rate of major congenital malformations associated with ASM use in pregnancy, in parallel with a shift from use of ASMs such as carbamazepine and valproate to lamotrigine and levetiracetam.” The latter two medications are associated with a much lower risk for such birth defects, he added. 

This is based on the average rate of major congenital malformations in the EURAP registry that tracks the comparative risk for major fetal malformations after ASM use during pregnancy in over 40 countries. The latest reporting from the registry shows that this risk has decreased from 6.1% in 1998-2004 to 3.7% in 2015-2022.

Taking valproate during pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk for neurodevelopmental outcomes, including autism spectrum disorder. However, the jury is still out on whether topiramate escalates the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, because findings across studies have been inconsistent.

Overall, the AAN guidance, and similar advice from European regulatory authorities, is that valproate is associated with high risk for major congenital malformations and neurodevelopmental disorders. Topiramate has also been shown to increase the risk for major congenital malformations. Consequently, these two anticonvulsants are generally contraindicated in pregnancy, Dr. Tomson noted.

On the other hand, levetiracetam, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine seem to be the safest ASMs with respect to congenital malformation risk, and lamotrigine has the best documented safety profile when it comes to the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Although there are newer ASMs on the market, including brivaracetam, cannabidiol, cenobamate, eslicarbazepine acetate, fenfluramine, lacosamide, perampanel, and zonisamide, at this juncture data on the risk potential of these agents are insufficient.

“For some of these newer meds, we don’t even have a single exposure in our large databases, even if you combine them all. We need to collect more data, and that will take time,” Dr. Tomson said. 
 

Dose Optimization 

Dose optimization of ASMs is also important — and for this to be accurate, it’s important to document an individual’s optimal ASM serum levels before pregnancy that can be used as a baseline target during pregnancy. However, Dr. Tomson noted, this information is not always available.

He pointed out that, with many ASMs, there can be a significant decline in serum concentration levels during pregnancy, which can increase seizure risk.

To address the uncertainty surrounding this issue, Dr. Tomson recommended that physicians consider future pregnancy when prescribing ASMs to women of childbearing age. He also advised discussing contraception with these patients, even if they indicate they are not currently planning to conceive.

The data clearly show the importance of planning a pregnancy so that the most appropriate and safest medications are prescribed, he said.

Dr. Tomson reported receiving research support, on behalf of EURAP, from Accord, Angelini, Bial, EcuPharma, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, Glenmark, GW Pharma, Hazz, Sanofi, Teva, USB, Zentiva, and SF Group. He has received speakers’ honoraria from Angelini, Eisai, and UCB. Dr. Bjørk reports receiving speakers’ honoraria from Pfizer, Eisai, AbbVie, Best Practice, Lilly, Novartis, and Teva. She has received unrestricted educational grants from The Research Council of Norway, the Research Council of the Nordic Countries (NordForsk), and the Norwegian Epilepsy Association. She has received consulting honoraria from Novartis and is on the advisory board of Eisai, Lundbeck, Angelini Pharma, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Bjørk also received institutional grants from marked authorization holders of valproate.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

HELSINKI, FINLAND — When it comes to caring for women with epilepsy who become pregnant, there is a great deal of room for improvement, experts say. 

“Too many women with epilepsy receive information about epilepsy and pregnancy only after pregnancy. We can do better,” Torbjörn Tomson, MD, PhD, senior professor of neurology and epileptology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, told delegates attending the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology 2024.

The goal in epilepsy is to maintain seizure control while minimizing exposure to potentially teratogenic medications, Dr. Tomson said. He added that pregnancy planning in women with epilepsy is important but also conceded that most pregnancies in this patient population are unplanned. 

Overall, it’s important to tell patients that “there is a high likelihood of an uneventful pregnancy and a healthy offspring,” he said. 

In recent years, new data have emerged on the risks to the fetus with exposure to different antiseizure medications (ASMs), said Dr. Tomson. This has led regulators, such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, to issue restrictions on the use of some ASMs, particularly valproate and topiramate, in females of childbearing age. 

Session chair Marte Bjørk, MD, PhD, of the Department of Neurology of Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, questioned whether the latest recommendations from regulatory authorities have “sacrificed seizure control at the expense of teratogenic safety.”

To an extent, this is true, said Dr. Tomson, “as the regulations prioritize fetal health over women’s health.” However, “we have not seen poorer seizure control with newer medications” in recent datasets. 

It’s about good planning, said Dr. Bjork, who is responsible for the clinical guidelines for treatment of epilepsy in pregnancy in Norway. 
 

Start With Folic Acid

One simple measure is to ensure that all women with epilepsy of childbearing age are prescribed low-dose folic acid, Dr. Tomson said — even those who report that they are not considering pregnancy. 

When it comes to folic acid, recently published guidelines on ASM use during pregnancy are relatively straightforward, he said.

The data do not show that folic acid reduces the risk for major congenital malformations, but they do show that it improves neurocognitive outcomes in children of mothers who received folic acid supplements prior to and throughout pregnancy.

Dr. Tomson said the new American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guidelines recommend a dosage of 0.4 mg/d, which balances the demonstrated benefits of supplementation and potential negative consequences of high doses of folic acid. 

“Consider 0.4 mg of folic acid for all women on ASMs that are of childbearing potential, whether they become pregnant or not,” he said. However, well-designed, preferably randomized, studies are needed to better define the optimal folic acid dosing for pregnancy in women with epilepsy. 
 

Choosing the Right ASM 

The choice of the most appropriate ASM in pregnancy is based on the potential for an individual drug to cause major congenital malformations and, in more recent years, the likelihood that a woman with epilepsy is using any other medications associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring. 

Balanced against this must be the effect of pregnancy on seizure control, and the maternal and fetal risks associated with seizures during pregnancy.

“There are ways to optimize seizure control and to reduce teratogenic risks,” said Dr. Tomson, adding that the new AAN guidelines provide updated evidence-based conclusions on this topic.

The good news is that “there has been almost a 40% decline in the rate of major congenital malformations associated with ASM use in pregnancy, in parallel with a shift from use of ASMs such as carbamazepine and valproate to lamotrigine and levetiracetam.” The latter two medications are associated with a much lower risk for such birth defects, he added. 

This is based on the average rate of major congenital malformations in the EURAP registry that tracks the comparative risk for major fetal malformations after ASM use during pregnancy in over 40 countries. The latest reporting from the registry shows that this risk has decreased from 6.1% in 1998-2004 to 3.7% in 2015-2022.

Taking valproate during pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk for neurodevelopmental outcomes, including autism spectrum disorder. However, the jury is still out on whether topiramate escalates the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, because findings across studies have been inconsistent.

Overall, the AAN guidance, and similar advice from European regulatory authorities, is that valproate is associated with high risk for major congenital malformations and neurodevelopmental disorders. Topiramate has also been shown to increase the risk for major congenital malformations. Consequently, these two anticonvulsants are generally contraindicated in pregnancy, Dr. Tomson noted.

On the other hand, levetiracetam, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine seem to be the safest ASMs with respect to congenital malformation risk, and lamotrigine has the best documented safety profile when it comes to the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Although there are newer ASMs on the market, including brivaracetam, cannabidiol, cenobamate, eslicarbazepine acetate, fenfluramine, lacosamide, perampanel, and zonisamide, at this juncture data on the risk potential of these agents are insufficient.

“For some of these newer meds, we don’t even have a single exposure in our large databases, even if you combine them all. We need to collect more data, and that will take time,” Dr. Tomson said. 
 

Dose Optimization 

Dose optimization of ASMs is also important — and for this to be accurate, it’s important to document an individual’s optimal ASM serum levels before pregnancy that can be used as a baseline target during pregnancy. However, Dr. Tomson noted, this information is not always available.

He pointed out that, with many ASMs, there can be a significant decline in serum concentration levels during pregnancy, which can increase seizure risk.

To address the uncertainty surrounding this issue, Dr. Tomson recommended that physicians consider future pregnancy when prescribing ASMs to women of childbearing age. He also advised discussing contraception with these patients, even if they indicate they are not currently planning to conceive.

The data clearly show the importance of planning a pregnancy so that the most appropriate and safest medications are prescribed, he said.

Dr. Tomson reported receiving research support, on behalf of EURAP, from Accord, Angelini, Bial, EcuPharma, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, Glenmark, GW Pharma, Hazz, Sanofi, Teva, USB, Zentiva, and SF Group. He has received speakers’ honoraria from Angelini, Eisai, and UCB. Dr. Bjørk reports receiving speakers’ honoraria from Pfizer, Eisai, AbbVie, Best Practice, Lilly, Novartis, and Teva. She has received unrestricted educational grants from The Research Council of Norway, the Research Council of the Nordic Countries (NordForsk), and the Norwegian Epilepsy Association. She has received consulting honoraria from Novartis and is on the advisory board of Eisai, Lundbeck, Angelini Pharma, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Bjørk also received institutional grants from marked authorization holders of valproate.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Introduction: Tremendous Progress on Cancer Extends to Cancer in Pregnancy

The biomedical research enterprise that took shape in the United States after World War II has had numerous positive effects, including significant progress made during the past 75-plus years in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1944 request of Dr. Vannevar Bush, director of the then Office of Scientific Research and Development, to organize a program that would advance and apply scientific knowledge for times of peace — just as it been advanced and applied in times of war — culminated in a historic report, Science – The Endless Frontier. Presented in 1945 to President Harry S. Truman, this report helped fuel decades of broad, bold, and coordinated government-sponsored biomedical research aimed at addressing disease and improving the health of the American people (National Science Foundation, 1945).

Discoveries made from research in basic and translational sciences deepened our knowledge of the cellular and molecular underpinnings of cancer, leading to advances in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other treatment approaches as well as continual refinements in their application. Similarly, our diagnostic armamentarium has significantly improved.

E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, is dean emeritus of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, former university executive vice president; currently the endowed professor and director of the Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI), and senior scientist in the Center for Birth Defects Research. Dr. Reece reported no relevant disclosures. He is the medical editor of this column. Contact him at [email protected].

Managing Cancer in Pregnancy

Cancer can cause fear and distress for any patient, but when cancer is diagnosed during pregnancy, an expectant mother fears not only for her own health but for the health of her unborn child. Fortunately, ob.gyn.s and multidisciplinary teams have good reason to reassure patients about the likelihood of good outcomes.

Cancer treatment in pregnancy has improved with advancements in imaging and chemotherapy, and while maternal and fetal outcomes of prenatal cancer treatment are not well reported, evidence acquired in recent years from case series and retrospective studies shows that most imaging studies and procedural diagnostic tests – and many treatments – can be performed safely in pregnancy.

Cancer Incidence, Use of Diagnostic Imaging

Data on the incidence of cancer in pregnancy comes from population-based cancer registries, and unfortunately, these data are not standardized and are often incomplete. Many studies include cancer diagnosed up to 1 year after pregnancy, and some include preinvasive disease. Estimates therefore vary considerably (see Table 1 for a sampling of estimates incidences.)

It has been reported, and often cited in the literature, that invasive malignancy complicates one in 1,000 pregnancies and that the incidence of cancer in pregnancy (invasive and noninvasive malignancies) has been rising over time.⁸ Increasing maternal age is believed to be playing a role in this rise; as women delay childbearing, they enter the age range in which some cancers become more common. Additionally, improvements in screening and diagnostics have led to earlier cancer detection. The incidence of ovarian neoplasms found during pregnancy has increased, for instance, with the routine use of diagnostic ultrasound in pregnancy.¹

Among the studies showing an increased incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer is a population-based study in Australia, which found that from 1994 to 2007 the crude incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer increased from 112.3 to 191.5 per 100,000 pregnancies (P < .001).⁹ A cohort study in the United States documented an increase in incidence from 75.0 per 100,000 pregnancies in 2002 to 138.5 per 100,000 pregnancies in 2012.¹⁰

Overall, the literature shows us that the skin, cervix, and breast are also common sites for malignancy during pregnancy.¹ According to a 2022 review, breast cancer during pregnancy is less often hormone receptor–positive and more frequently triple negative compared with age-matched controls.¹¹ The frequencies of other pregnancy-associated cancers appear overall to be similar to that of cancer occurring in all women across their reproductive years.¹

Too often, diagnosis is delayed because cancer symptoms can be masked by or can mimic normal physiological changes in pregnancy. For instance, breast cancer can be difficult to diagnose during pregnancy and lactation due to anatomic changes in the breast parenchyma. Several studies published in the 1990s showed that breast cancer presents at a more advanced stage in pregnant patients than in nonpregnant patients because of this delay.¹ Skin changes suggestive of melanoma can be attributed to hyperpigmentation of pregnancy, for instance. Several observational studies have suggested that thicker melanomas found in pregnancy may be because of delayed diagnosis.⁸

It is important that we thoroughly investigate signs and symptoms suggestive of a malignancy and not automatically attribute these symptoms to the pregnancy itself. Cervical biopsy of a mass or lesion suspicious for cervical cancer can be done safely during pregnancy and should not be delayed or deferred.

Fetal radiation exposure from radiologic examinations has long been a concern, but we know today that while the imaging modality should be chosen to minimize fetal radiation exposure, CT scans and even PET scans should be performed if these exams are deemed best for evaluation. Embryonic exposure to a dose of less than 50 mGy is rarely if at all associated with fetal malformations or miscarriage and a radiation dose of 100 mGy may be considered a floor for consideration of therapeutic termination of pregnancy.^1,8

CT exams are associated with a fetal dose far less than 50 mGy (see Table 2 for radiation doses).

Chemotherapy, Surgery, and Radiation in Pregnancy

The management of cancer during pregnancy requires a multidisciplinary team including medical, gynecologic, or radiation oncologists, and maternal-fetal medicine specialists (Figure 1). Prematurity and low birth weight are frequent complications for fetuses exposed to chemotherapy, although there is some uncertainty as to whether the treatment is causative. However, congenital anomalies no longer are a major concern, provided that drugs are appropriately selected and that fetal exposure occurs during the second or third trimester.

For instance, alkylating agents including cisplatin (an important drug in the management of gynecologic malignancies) have been associated with congenital anomalies in the first trimester but not in the second and third trimesters, and a variety of antimetabolites — excluding methotrexate and aminopterin — similarly have been shown to be relatively safe when used after the first trimester.¹

Small studies have shown no long-term effects of chemotherapy exposure on postnatal growth and long-term neurologic/neurocognitive function,¹ but this is an area that needs more research.

Also in need of investigation is the safety of newer agents in pregnancy. Data are limited on the use of new targeted treatments, monoclonal antibodies, and immunotherapies in pregnancy and their effects on the fetus, with current knowledge coming mainly from single case reports.¹³

Until more is learned — a challenge given that pregnant women are generally excluded from clinical trials — management teams are generally postponing use of these therapies until after delivery. Considering the pace of new developments revolutionizing cancer treatment, this topic will likely get more complex and confusing before we begin acquiring sufficient knowledge.

The timing of surgery for malignancy in pregnancy is similarly based on the balance of maternal and fetal risks, including the risk of maternal disease progression, the risk of preterm delivery, and the prevention of fetal metastases. In general, the safest time is the second trimester.

Maternal surgery in the third trimester may be associated with a risk of premature labor and altered uteroplacental perfusion. A 2005 systematic review of 12,452 women who underwent nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy provides some reassurance, however; compared with the general obstetric population, there was no increase in the rate of miscarriage or major birth defects.¹⁴

Radiotherapy used to be contraindicated in pregnancy but many experts today believe it can be safely utilized provided the uterus is out of field and is protected from scattered radiation. The head, neck, and breast, for instance, can be treated with newer radiotherapies, including stereotactic ablative radiation therapy.⁸ Patients with advanced cervical cancer often receive chemotherapy during pregnancy to slow metastatic growth followed by definitive treatment with postpartum radiation or surgery.

More research is needed, but available data on maternal outcomes are encouraging. For instance, there appear to be no significant differences in short- and long-term complications or survival between women who are pregnant and nonpregnant when treated for invasive cervical cancer.⁸ Similarly, while earlier studies of breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy suggested a poor prognosis, data now show similar prognoses for pregnant and nonpregnant patients when controlled for stage.¹

Dr. Rao is a gynecologic oncologist and associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. He reported no relevant disclosures.

References

1. Rao GG. Chapter 42. Clinical Obstetrics: The Fetus & Mother, 4th ed. Reece EA et al. (eds): 2021.

2. Bannister-Tyrrell M et al. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2014;55:116-122.

3. Oehler MK et al. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2003;43(6):414-420.

4. Ruiz R et al. Breast. 2017;35:136-141. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2017.07.008.

5. Nolan S et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2019;220(1):S480. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.11.752.

6. El-Messidi A et al. J Perinat Med. 2015;43(6):683-688. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2014-0133.

7. Pellino G et al. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;29(7):743-753. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000000863.

8. Eastwood-Wilshere N et al. Asia-Pac J Clin Oncol. 2019;15:296-308.

9. Lee YY et al. BJOG. 2012;119(13):1572-1582.

10. Cottreau CM et al. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2019 Feb;28(2):250-257.

11. Boere I et al. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2022;82:46-59.

12. Ray JG et al. JAMA 2016;316(9):952-961.

13. Schwab R et al. Cancers. (Basel) 2021;13(12):3048.

14. Cohen-Kerem et al. Am J Surg. 2005;190(3):467-473.

Introduction: Tremendous Progress on Cancer Extends to Cancer in Pregnancy

The biomedical research enterprise that took shape in the United States after World War II has had numerous positive effects, including significant progress made during the past 75-plus years in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1944 request of Dr. Vannevar Bush, director of the then Office of Scientific Research and Development, to organize a program that would advance and apply scientific knowledge for times of peace — just as it been advanced and applied in times of war — culminated in a historic report, Science – The Endless Frontier. Presented in 1945 to President Harry S. Truman, this report helped fuel decades of broad, bold, and coordinated government-sponsored biomedical research aimed at addressing disease and improving the health of the American people (National Science Foundation, 1945).

Discoveries made from research in basic and translational sciences deepened our knowledge of the cellular and molecular underpinnings of cancer, leading to advances in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other treatment approaches as well as continual refinements in their application. Similarly, our diagnostic armamentarium has significantly improved.

E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, is dean emeritus of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, former university executive vice president; currently the endowed professor and director of the Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI), and senior scientist in the Center for Birth Defects Research. Dr. Reece reported no relevant disclosures. He is the medical editor of this column. Contact him at [email protected].

Managing Cancer in Pregnancy

Cancer can cause fear and distress for any patient, but when cancer is diagnosed during pregnancy, an expectant mother fears not only for her own health but for the health of her unborn child. Fortunately, ob.gyn.s and multidisciplinary teams have good reason to reassure patients about the likelihood of good outcomes.

Cancer treatment in pregnancy has improved with advancements in imaging and chemotherapy, and while maternal and fetal outcomes of prenatal cancer treatment are not well reported, evidence acquired in recent years from case series and retrospective studies shows that most imaging studies and procedural diagnostic tests – and many treatments – can be performed safely in pregnancy.

Cancer Incidence, Use of Diagnostic Imaging

Data on the incidence of cancer in pregnancy comes from population-based cancer registries, and unfortunately, these data are not standardized and are often incomplete. Many studies include cancer diagnosed up to 1 year after pregnancy, and some include preinvasive disease. Estimates therefore vary considerably (see Table 1 for a sampling of estimates incidences.)

It has been reported, and often cited in the literature, that invasive malignancy complicates one in 1,000 pregnancies and that the incidence of cancer in pregnancy (invasive and noninvasive malignancies) has been rising over time.⁸ Increasing maternal age is believed to be playing a role in this rise; as women delay childbearing, they enter the age range in which some cancers become more common. Additionally, improvements in screening and diagnostics have led to earlier cancer detection. The incidence of ovarian neoplasms found during pregnancy has increased, for instance, with the routine use of diagnostic ultrasound in pregnancy.¹

Among the studies showing an increased incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer is a population-based study in Australia, which found that from 1994 to 2007 the crude incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer increased from 112.3 to 191.5 per 100,000 pregnancies (P < .001).⁹ A cohort study in the United States documented an increase in incidence from 75.0 per 100,000 pregnancies in 2002 to 138.5 per 100,000 pregnancies in 2012.¹⁰

Overall, the literature shows us that the skin, cervix, and breast are also common sites for malignancy during pregnancy.¹ According to a 2022 review, breast cancer during pregnancy is less often hormone receptor–positive and more frequently triple negative compared with age-matched controls.¹¹ The frequencies of other pregnancy-associated cancers appear overall to be similar to that of cancer occurring in all women across their reproductive years.¹

Too often, diagnosis is delayed because cancer symptoms can be masked by or can mimic normal physiological changes in pregnancy. For instance, breast cancer can be difficult to diagnose during pregnancy and lactation due to anatomic changes in the breast parenchyma. Several studies published in the 1990s showed that breast cancer presents at a more advanced stage in pregnant patients than in nonpregnant patients because of this delay.¹ Skin changes suggestive of melanoma can be attributed to hyperpigmentation of pregnancy, for instance. Several observational studies have suggested that thicker melanomas found in pregnancy may be because of delayed diagnosis.⁸

It is important that we thoroughly investigate signs and symptoms suggestive of a malignancy and not automatically attribute these symptoms to the pregnancy itself. Cervical biopsy of a mass or lesion suspicious for cervical cancer can be done safely during pregnancy and should not be delayed or deferred.

Fetal radiation exposure from radiologic examinations has long been a concern, but we know today that while the imaging modality should be chosen to minimize fetal radiation exposure, CT scans and even PET scans should be performed if these exams are deemed best for evaluation. Embryonic exposure to a dose of less than 50 mGy is rarely if at all associated with fetal malformations or miscarriage and a radiation dose of 100 mGy may be considered a floor for consideration of therapeutic termination of pregnancy.^1,8

CT exams are associated with a fetal dose far less than 50 mGy (see Table 2 for radiation doses).

Chemotherapy, Surgery, and Radiation in Pregnancy

The management of cancer during pregnancy requires a multidisciplinary team including medical, gynecologic, or radiation oncologists, and maternal-fetal medicine specialists (Figure 1). Prematurity and low birth weight are frequent complications for fetuses exposed to chemotherapy, although there is some uncertainty as to whether the treatment is causative. However, congenital anomalies no longer are a major concern, provided that drugs are appropriately selected and that fetal exposure occurs during the second or third trimester.

For instance, alkylating agents including cisplatin (an important drug in the management of gynecologic malignancies) have been associated with congenital anomalies in the first trimester but not in the second and third trimesters, and a variety of antimetabolites — excluding methotrexate and aminopterin — similarly have been shown to be relatively safe when used after the first trimester.¹

Small studies have shown no long-term effects of chemotherapy exposure on postnatal growth and long-term neurologic/neurocognitive function,¹ but this is an area that needs more research.

Also in need of investigation is the safety of newer agents in pregnancy. Data are limited on the use of new targeted treatments, monoclonal antibodies, and immunotherapies in pregnancy and their effects on the fetus, with current knowledge coming mainly from single case reports.¹³

Until more is learned — a challenge given that pregnant women are generally excluded from clinical trials — management teams are generally postponing use of these therapies until after delivery. Considering the pace of new developments revolutionizing cancer treatment, this topic will likely get more complex and confusing before we begin acquiring sufficient knowledge.

The timing of surgery for malignancy in pregnancy is similarly based on the balance of maternal and fetal risks, including the risk of maternal disease progression, the risk of preterm delivery, and the prevention of fetal metastases. In general, the safest time is the second trimester.

Maternal surgery in the third trimester may be associated with a risk of premature labor and altered uteroplacental perfusion. A 2005 systematic review of 12,452 women who underwent nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy provides some reassurance, however; compared with the general obstetric population, there was no increase in the rate of miscarriage or major birth defects.¹⁴

Radiotherapy used to be contraindicated in pregnancy but many experts today believe it can be safely utilized provided the uterus is out of field and is protected from scattered radiation. The head, neck, and breast, for instance, can be treated with newer radiotherapies, including stereotactic ablative radiation therapy.⁸ Patients with advanced cervical cancer often receive chemotherapy during pregnancy to slow metastatic growth followed by definitive treatment with postpartum radiation or surgery.

More research is needed, but available data on maternal outcomes are encouraging. For instance, there appear to be no significant differences in short- and long-term complications or survival between women who are pregnant and nonpregnant when treated for invasive cervical cancer.⁸ Similarly, while earlier studies of breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy suggested a poor prognosis, data now show similar prognoses for pregnant and nonpregnant patients when controlled for stage.¹

Dr. Rao is a gynecologic oncologist and associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. He reported no relevant disclosures.

References

1. Rao GG. Chapter 42. Clinical Obstetrics: The Fetus & Mother, 4th ed. Reece EA et al. (eds): 2021.

2. Bannister-Tyrrell M et al. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2014;55:116-122.

3. Oehler MK et al. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2003;43(6):414-420.

4. Ruiz R et al. Breast. 2017;35:136-141. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2017.07.008.

5. Nolan S et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2019;220(1):S480. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.11.752.

6. El-Messidi A et al. J Perinat Med. 2015;43(6):683-688. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2014-0133.

7. Pellino G et al. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;29(7):743-753. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000000863.

8. Eastwood-Wilshere N et al. Asia-Pac J Clin Oncol. 2019;15:296-308.

9. Lee YY et al. BJOG. 2012;119(13):1572-1582.

10. Cottreau CM et al. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2019 Feb;28(2):250-257.

11. Boere I et al. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2022;82:46-59.

12. Ray JG et al. JAMA 2016;316(9):952-961.

13. Schwab R et al. Cancers. (Basel) 2021;13(12):3048.

14. Cohen-Kerem et al. Am J Surg. 2005;190(3):467-473.

Introduction: Tremendous Progress on Cancer Extends to Cancer in Pregnancy

The biomedical research enterprise that took shape in the United States after World War II has had numerous positive effects, including significant progress made during the past 75-plus years in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1944 request of Dr. Vannevar Bush, director of the then Office of Scientific Research and Development, to organize a program that would advance and apply scientific knowledge for times of peace — just as it been advanced and applied in times of war — culminated in a historic report, Science – The Endless Frontier. Presented in 1945 to President Harry S. Truman, this report helped fuel decades of broad, bold, and coordinated government-sponsored biomedical research aimed at addressing disease and improving the health of the American people (National Science Foundation, 1945).

Discoveries made from research in basic and translational sciences deepened our knowledge of the cellular and molecular underpinnings of cancer, leading to advances in chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and other treatment approaches as well as continual refinements in their application. Similarly, our diagnostic armamentarium has significantly improved.

E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, is dean emeritus of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, former university executive vice president; currently the endowed professor and director of the Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI), and senior scientist in the Center for Birth Defects Research. Dr. Reece reported no relevant disclosures. He is the medical editor of this column. Contact him at [email protected].

Managing Cancer in Pregnancy

Cancer can cause fear and distress for any patient, but when cancer is diagnosed during pregnancy, an expectant mother fears not only for her own health but for the health of her unborn child. Fortunately, ob.gyn.s and multidisciplinary teams have good reason to reassure patients about the likelihood of good outcomes.

Cancer treatment in pregnancy has improved with advancements in imaging and chemotherapy, and while maternal and fetal outcomes of prenatal cancer treatment are not well reported, evidence acquired in recent years from case series and retrospective studies shows that most imaging studies and procedural diagnostic tests – and many treatments – can be performed safely in pregnancy.

Cancer Incidence, Use of Diagnostic Imaging

Data on the incidence of cancer in pregnancy comes from population-based cancer registries, and unfortunately, these data are not standardized and are often incomplete. Many studies include cancer diagnosed up to 1 year after pregnancy, and some include preinvasive disease. Estimates therefore vary considerably (see Table 1 for a sampling of estimates incidences.)

It has been reported, and often cited in the literature, that invasive malignancy complicates one in 1,000 pregnancies and that the incidence of cancer in pregnancy (invasive and noninvasive malignancies) has been rising over time.⁸ Increasing maternal age is believed to be playing a role in this rise; as women delay childbearing, they enter the age range in which some cancers become more common. Additionally, improvements in screening and diagnostics have led to earlier cancer detection. The incidence of ovarian neoplasms found during pregnancy has increased, for instance, with the routine use of diagnostic ultrasound in pregnancy.¹

Among the studies showing an increased incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer is a population-based study in Australia, which found that from 1994 to 2007 the crude incidence of pregnancy-associated cancer increased from 112.3 to 191.5 per 100,000 pregnancies (P < .001).⁹ A cohort study in the United States documented an increase in incidence from 75.0 per 100,000 pregnancies in 2002 to 138.5 per 100,000 pregnancies in 2012.¹⁰

Overall, the literature shows us that the skin, cervix, and breast are also common sites for malignancy during pregnancy.¹ According to a 2022 review, breast cancer during pregnancy is less often hormone receptor–positive and more frequently triple negative compared with age-matched controls.¹¹ The frequencies of other pregnancy-associated cancers appear overall to be similar to that of cancer occurring in all women across their reproductive years.¹

Too often, diagnosis is delayed because cancer symptoms can be masked by or can mimic normal physiological changes in pregnancy. For instance, breast cancer can be difficult to diagnose during pregnancy and lactation due to anatomic changes in the breast parenchyma. Several studies published in the 1990s showed that breast cancer presents at a more advanced stage in pregnant patients than in nonpregnant patients because of this delay.¹ Skin changes suggestive of melanoma can be attributed to hyperpigmentation of pregnancy, for instance. Several observational studies have suggested that thicker melanomas found in pregnancy may be because of delayed diagnosis.⁸

It is important that we thoroughly investigate signs and symptoms suggestive of a malignancy and not automatically attribute these symptoms to the pregnancy itself. Cervical biopsy of a mass or lesion suspicious for cervical cancer can be done safely during pregnancy and should not be delayed or deferred.

Fetal radiation exposure from radiologic examinations has long been a concern, but we know today that while the imaging modality should be chosen to minimize fetal radiation exposure, CT scans and even PET scans should be performed if these exams are deemed best for evaluation. Embryonic exposure to a dose of less than 50 mGy is rarely if at all associated with fetal malformations or miscarriage and a radiation dose of 100 mGy may be considered a floor for consideration of therapeutic termination of pregnancy.^1,8

CT exams are associated with a fetal dose far less than 50 mGy (see Table 2 for radiation doses).

Chemotherapy, Surgery, and Radiation in Pregnancy

The management of cancer during pregnancy requires a multidisciplinary team including medical, gynecologic, or radiation oncologists, and maternal-fetal medicine specialists (Figure 1). Prematurity and low birth weight are frequent complications for fetuses exposed to chemotherapy, although there is some uncertainty as to whether the treatment is causative. However, congenital anomalies no longer are a major concern, provided that drugs are appropriately selected and that fetal exposure occurs during the second or third trimester.

For instance, alkylating agents including cisplatin (an important drug in the management of gynecologic malignancies) have been associated with congenital anomalies in the first trimester but not in the second and third trimesters, and a variety of antimetabolites — excluding methotrexate and aminopterin — similarly have been shown to be relatively safe when used after the first trimester.¹

Small studies have shown no long-term effects of chemotherapy exposure on postnatal growth and long-term neurologic/neurocognitive function,¹ but this is an area that needs more research.

Also in need of investigation is the safety of newer agents in pregnancy. Data are limited on the use of new targeted treatments, monoclonal antibodies, and immunotherapies in pregnancy and their effects on the fetus, with current knowledge coming mainly from single case reports.¹³

Until more is learned — a challenge given that pregnant women are generally excluded from clinical trials — management teams are generally postponing use of these therapies until after delivery. Considering the pace of new developments revolutionizing cancer treatment, this topic will likely get more complex and confusing before we begin acquiring sufficient knowledge.

The timing of surgery for malignancy in pregnancy is similarly based on the balance of maternal and fetal risks, including the risk of maternal disease progression, the risk of preterm delivery, and the prevention of fetal metastases. In general, the safest time is the second trimester.

Maternal surgery in the third trimester may be associated with a risk of premature labor and altered uteroplacental perfusion. A 2005 systematic review of 12,452 women who underwent nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy provides some reassurance, however; compared with the general obstetric population, there was no increase in the rate of miscarriage or major birth defects.¹⁴

Radiotherapy used to be contraindicated in pregnancy but many experts today believe it can be safely utilized provided the uterus is out of field and is protected from scattered radiation. The head, neck, and breast, for instance, can be treated with newer radiotherapies, including stereotactic ablative radiation therapy.⁸ Patients with advanced cervical cancer often receive chemotherapy during pregnancy to slow metastatic growth followed by definitive treatment with postpartum radiation or surgery.

More research is needed, but available data on maternal outcomes are encouraging. For instance, there appear to be no significant differences in short- and long-term complications or survival between women who are pregnant and nonpregnant when treated for invasive cervical cancer.⁸ Similarly, while earlier studies of breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy suggested a poor prognosis, data now show similar prognoses for pregnant and nonpregnant patients when controlled for stage.¹

Dr. Rao is a gynecologic oncologist and associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. He reported no relevant disclosures.

References

1. Rao GG. Chapter 42. Clinical Obstetrics: The Fetus & Mother, 4th ed. Reece EA et al. (eds): 2021.

2. Bannister-Tyrrell M et al. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2014;55:116-122.

3. Oehler MK et al. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2003;43(6):414-420.

4. Ruiz R et al. Breast. 2017;35:136-141. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2017.07.008.

5. Nolan S et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2019;220(1):S480. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.11.752.

6. El-Messidi A et al. J Perinat Med. 2015;43(6):683-688. doi: 10.1515/jpm-2014-0133.

7. Pellino G et al. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;29(7):743-753. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000000863.

8. Eastwood-Wilshere N et al. Asia-Pac J Clin Oncol. 2019;15:296-308.

9. Lee YY et al. BJOG. 2012;119(13):1572-1582.

10. Cottreau CM et al. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2019 Feb;28(2):250-257.

11. Boere I et al. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2022;82:46-59.

12. Ray JG et al. JAMA 2016;316(9):952-961.

13. Schwab R et al. Cancers. (Basel) 2021;13(12):3048.

14. Cohen-Kerem et al. Am J Surg. 2005;190(3):467-473.