Good Reason To Lose Weight Before Getting Pregnant

Researchers from Newcastle University in the UK reviewed 39 studies that looked at a possible link between maternal obesity and birth defects. The study published today in JAMA, , showed that babies of obese women had twice the risk of having a neural tube defect. These babies also had increased risks of having a heart defect, cleft palate or lip, structural abnormalities of the anus or rectum, and hydrocephaly. The absolute risk is small, but birth defects are responsible for about 20% of all infant deaths in the U.S.