Pregnancy After Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery is a group of procedures that are performed on morbidly obese patient to help them lose weight. It is done on women who have BMI = 40 or BMI = 35 associated with other disorders such as hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease.

Morbidly obese women who have difficulty in getting pregnant, may sometimes need bariatric surgery to improve their chances of conceiving. These procedures are often done before conception and therefore they have an important impact on the pregnancy.

Obese women who have undergone bariatric surgery have better outcome in pregnancy as compared to obese women who have not done bariatric surgery. These is a decrease in risk of pregnancy related blood pressure, diabetes and large for gestational age babies.

Bariatric surgery by itself is likely to cause nutritional deficiencies such as Protein, Iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin B-12 and Calcium, as there is reduction in absorptive surface of the intestine. These deficiencies and the rapid weight loss in mother can also cause small for gestational age babies.

Women who have undergone bariatric surgery should avoid pregnancy for 12 to 18 months after surgery. It is important to note that complications of bariatric surgery such as anastomotic leak, bowel obstruction and hernia can cause nausea and vomiting and it may be misdiagnosed as nausea and vomiting due to pregnancy and this could prove fatal. Therefore, the obstetrician needs to be aware and vigilant.