Congratulations, you’ve completed your successful bariatric surgery and reached your weight loss goals. You’ve decided to start a family, but wonder “Is it safe or even possible to become pregnant after my bariatric surgery? How long should I wait?”
These are but a few of the questions you may be asking yourself. Well, we’re here to tell you that if you are a woman able to get pregnant, yes you can! In fact, it is often safer for both mother and child to have a baby after bariatric surgery rather than while still being morbidly obese. Morbidly obese women are often infertile and more apt to experience pregnancy-related complication such as gestational diabetes, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and fetal distress. Also, morbidly obese women are prone to require a cesarean or C-section delivery.
How Long Should I Wait? …
Any woman of childbearing age who wishes to become pregnant after gastric banding surgery with Lap-Band is suggested to wait approximately 6 months post-surgery. This 6 month span consists of a period of weight loss which will create challenges in meeting nutritional needs without the added stress of pregnancy. Often times during weight loss, a growing fetus may be deprived nutrients needed to develop.
We recommend all of our female patients of child-bearing age use a reliable contraception during the 6 month waiting period.
How is Pregnancy After Bariatric Surgery Safer? …
The latest review of 75 studies found that becoming pregnant after bariatric surgery is actually less risky than becoming pregnant while still obese and decreased the rates of adverse outcomes for mothers and their newborns. The study, appearing in the November 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found specifically that none of the women who had weight loss surgery developed gestational diabetes, however this condition was discovered in 22.1 percent of obese women. Also, none of the women who had bariatric surgery were found to have pre-eclampsia but this condition was discovered in 3.1 percent of their obese counterparts.
Weight loss surgery may actually help protect obese women and their babies from the following common complications:
• Gestational diabetes or high blood sugar (glucose) levels
• High blood pressure
• Overly large babies
Many mothers who have previously undergone weight loss surgery prior to pregnancy experience less gained weight during their pregnancy. This is beneficial to both mother and child because too much weight gain is risky. All in all, pregnancy after Lap-Band surgery has been found to be both safer and more beneficial to the health and well-being of both mother and child.
