Women who develop endometriosis before having children face increased complications during pregnancy, according to a major Scottish study.
The risk of having an ectopic pregnancy is increased by nearly three times, according to the study, while the risk of suffering a miscarriage is increased by 76%.
The findings were being reported this week at the conference of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology in Lisbon, Portugal.
They come from a comparison of some 5,375 women with the condition with another 8,280 women.
The condition is caused by cells from the lining of the womb migrating to other parts of the woman’s pelvis, causing inflammation and other complications.
Researcher Dr Lucky Saraswat, from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, UK, said the findings warranted for women with endometriosis "increased monitoring by ultra-sound scans, and greater vigilance to identify potential complications such as bleeding and pre-term delivery."
Fellow researcher Professor Andrew Horne, of Edinburgh University, said: "These new findings suggest that we may need to warn women with endometriosis who become pregnant that they are at higher risk of both early and late complications in pregnancy, and may warrant increased antenatal monitoring."
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