More research needs to be done on contraception for women who are overweight or obese, says Dr Terri Foran
More research needs to be done on contraception for women who are overweight or obese, says Dr Terri Foran.
Around one in five Australian women are now considered obese, and we know that overweight or obesity affects the efficacy of some birth-control methods.
“In those who are overweight or obese we see increased pregnancy risk, so there is more gestational diabetes, more VTE, a higher rate of fetal malformation, and a higher rate of stillbirth,” says Dr Foran, a sexual health physicianbased in Sydney.
“So we want pregnancies in this group to be planned, not unplanned.”
However, most trials of contraceptives exclude overweight and obese women, so there is now a push to include these women in clinical studies.
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