TORONTO — A new Canadian study has shed fresh light on a growing
problem in the nation's maternity wards: pregnant women whose
obesity poses health risks for the fetus that may be as dire as
the effects of smoking or drinking. The swelling ranks of obese,
expectant mothers face a heightened danger of miscarriages,
stillbirths and premature babies, and more likely to deliver
children who develop diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even
spina bifida. A study released just this week found obese women
were almost 70 per cent more likely than others to have an
autistic child. The reasons for such complications have not been
clear, but just-published Canadian research on rats fed a
special high-fat diet concludes that obesity undermines
development of blood vessels in the placenta, which in turn
deprives the fetus of sufficient oxygen. The findings point to
the fundamental impact that being overweight has on giving
birth, but could also help develop drugs to improve results for
obese mothers, the authors say. "The