Obesity epidemic creating super-sized babies

OBESITY related complications are increasingly affecting Irish births, the master of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin Dr Michael Geary has warned.

He said babies born nowadays are much bigger than in the past and that while this could be partly attributed to improved general health and better eating, obesity was a key, contributing factor.

“Bigger babies is a definite trend that has emerged in recent years,” he said.

In an interview published in the latest edition of the Irish Medical News, Dr Geary said there has been a significant increase in the number of babies born weighing nine or 10 pounds over the past 20 years.

Bigger babies can lead to increased complications including higher chances of an emergency caesarean and an increased risk of birth trauma.

Dr Geary said obesity had a negative effect on pregnancy and there was a direct relationship between the level of obesity and the need for obstetric intervention and for Caesareans.

“The numbers attending diabetes (outpatient) clinics are a direct reflection of the increasing obesity rates,” he said.

And with Dublin still experiencing the greatest number of teenage pregnancies, the maternity hospital decided to open a dedicated pregnancy unit.

“About 20 years ago the number of teenage births was 5% to 6% and it was 7% last year so it is still happening,” said Dr Geary.

And, he added, efforts to provide sexual education in schools has not really made a big difference, which was why the hospital decided to open a unit specially for teenage girls.

Dr Geary said the unit was developed so that a 16-year-old who was in transition year at school and had not told her parents about her pregnancy did not have to sit beside a 35-year-old woman who had planned her first pregnancy, was happily married and financially secure.

“It is designed to provide a suitable environment with streamlined care from a multidisciplinary group,” he explained.

He also pointed out that one-in-four births in the Rotunda are by Caesarean section, a trend that has seen a steady rise in Ireland in the past 20 years.

While there was a number of reasons for the increase in the number of babies delivered by Caesarean section, the main one was an increase in the number of requests for the procedure.

Dr Geary said that although the hospital did not promote Caesarean sections, it did try to facilitate all requests for them and ensured that patients were fully informed about the risks.

He also said the number of immigrant women presenting at hospitals in the later stages of pregnancy had fallen significantly, leading to a better standard of care.

“It was a very high risk situation but thankfully it has changed now.

“At one stage we had 15% of the immigrant women turning up for the first time while in labour and another 15% booking in with us literally within a week of delivery and that has dramatically reduced, especially in the past six months.”