Fibroids May Be Associated With Stillbirth

Long before I was trying to conceive, I had some fibroids removed because they were growing rapidly. Many fibroids cause no problems and some women aren't even aware that they have them. However, they can be somewhat of a problem in pregnancy and this study talks about how they may cause growth restriction leading to stillbirth. Read more:

sciencedaily.com

From the article:

The study was a retrospective cohort study of 64,047 women. Data were extracted on maternal sociodemographics, medical history, and obstetric outcomes. Pregnancies with any fetal anomalies were excluded. Women with at least one fibroid detected at the time of fetal anatomic survey were compared to women without fibroids. The primary outcome was IUFD after 20 weeks gestation. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the risk of IUFD in women with fibroids, and subgroup was conducted by presence or absence of fetal growth restriction (IUGR).

The study found that of 64,047 women, the incidence of fibroids was 3.2% (n=2,058). The incidence of IUFD was significantly higher in the fibroid group than in the no-fibroid group (1.6% v. 0.7%, aOR 1.8, 95%CI 1.3-2.7) even after adjusting for factors including black race, tobacco exposure, chronic hypertension, and pregestational diabetes. In subgroup analysis, the risk relationship between fibroids and IUFD only persisted within the IUGR subgroup.

"Our results showed that women with a combination of fibroids and fetal growth restriction were at two-and-a-half times the risk of having a stillbirth, though the absolute risk remained rare," said Dr. Alison G. Cahill, another of the study's authors. "This may lead to a future recommendation for serial growth scans to monitor fetal growth in women with fibroids."