More than a quarter of miscarriages may be avoidable, researchers say today.
Alcohol, night work and heavy lifting may all play a part in causing the problem, according to the new study.
Researcher Sandra Feodor Nilsson and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, analysed figures on 91,427 pregnancies recorded in national birth databases from 1996 to 2002. In Denmark, miscarriage is defined as a foetal death before 22 completed weeks of gestation. The mothers were also interviewed by telephone.
Nine risk factors were measured: amount of exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking, coffee consumption, work schedule (i.e. night shifts, rotating shifts), lifting of more than 20 kilograms daily, maternal age at conception, pre-pregnancy weight status and previously diagnosed genital diseases.
Three percent of the pregnancies ended in miscarriage. Analysis showed that five of the potentially modifiable risk factors were linked to increased miscarriage risk – age of 30 years or more at conception, underweight or obese pre-pregnancy, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, lifting of more than 20 kilograms daily and night work during the antenatal period.
The team say that 25.2% of the miscarriages may have been prevented if these risk factors were reduced to low levels. They also estimate that modifying these risk factors before and during pregnancy could prevent 14.7% and 12.5% of the miscarriages respectively.
Details are published today (19 February) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Ms Feodor Nilsson said: "We know that the modifiable aspects of the risk factors may be questioned as they often depend on other factors that are not necessarily easy to change. However, we think that information about increased chances of having a successful pregnancy is important."
Feodor Nilsson, S. et al. Risk factors for miscarriage in a prevention perspective: a nationwide follow-up study. BJOG 19 February 2014 doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.12694. [abstract]
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