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. 2008 Feb;23(2):324-8.
doi: 10.1093/humrep/dem371. Epub 2007 Dec 11.

Obesity affects spontaneous pregnancy chances in subfertile, ovulatory women

Jan Willem van der Steeg  1 , Pieternel Steures, Marinus J C Eijkemans, J Dik F Habbema, Peter G A Hompes, Jan M Burggraaff, G Jur E Oosterhuis, Patrick M M Bossuyt, Fulco van der Veen, Ben W J Mol
Affiliations

Obesity affects spontaneous pregnancy chances in subfertile, ovulatory women

Jan Willem van der Steeg et al. Hum Reprod. 2008 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Obesity is increasing rapidly among women all over the world. Obesity is a known risk factor for subfertility due to anovulation, but it is unknown whether obesity also affects spontaneous pregnancy chances in subfertile, ovulatory women.

Methods: We evaluated whether obesity affected the chance of a spontaneous pregnancy in a prospectively assembled cohort of 3029 consecutive subfertile couples. Women had to be ovulatory and had to have at least one patent tube, whereas men had to have a normal semen analysis. Time to spontaneous ongoing pregnancy within 12 months was the primary endpoint.

Results: The probability of a spontaneous pregnancy declined linearly with a body mass index (BMI) over 29 kg/m(2). Corrected for possible related factors, women with a high BMI had a 4% lower pregnancy rate per kg/m(2) increase [hazard ratio: 0.96 (95% CI 0.91-0.99)].

Conclusions: These results indicate that obesity is associated with lower pregnancy rates in subfertile ovulatory women.

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