Women with eating disorders are more likely to suffer from fertility problems, according to research by specialists from King’s College London and University College London. They are published by BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Timing of pregnancy can be difficult for women with an eating disorder, and this is the first time that their perceptions about it have been studied so thoroughly, says Abigaile Easter of King’s College London, lead author of the report.
The research, carried out in the 12th and 18th weeks of pregnancy, covered a group of over 11. women. The questions were about fertility and pregnancy-related feelings. About 4 percent. of the surveyed women admitted that at some point in their life they had suffered from eating disorders, including anorexia (1,5%), bulimia (1,8%) or both (0,7%). In this group, almost 40 percent. women took more than 6 months to get pregnant, compared to 29%. in a group without eating disorders.
There were no differences between women with and without a history of the disorder when it took more than a year to get pregnant. In addition, women who admitted that they had anorexia or bulimia were twice as likely to undergo infertility treatment (6,2%, compared to 2,7% in the group of women without disorders) and felt unhappy with pregnancy (9,8% in women who suffered from anorexia or bulimia, and 3,8% in the control group).
Easter notes, however, that women with anorexia more often (over 40% of cases) stated that their pregnancy was not planned. The high percentage of unplanned pregnancies in women with anorexia shows that such people underestimate their chances of getting pregnant, she comments.
According to the researcher, women should first of all seek help in connection with eating disorders before becoming pregnant. In addition, doctors should be aware of the risks associated with eating disorders during fertility treatment and the specificity of pregnancy management in women with a history of such diseases (PAP).
Also read: Anorexia – downward equation