INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Successful pregnancies are less likely to occur when pregnant women have periods of intense work and low food intake, U.S. researchers said.
Virginia J. Vitzthum, a senior scientist at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, said her research challenges the past belief that nearly all early pregnancy losses are caused by genetic defects in the embryo.
Genetic defects wouldn't change with the seasons, so Vitzthum's findings show that environmental factors must also play a major role in early pregnancy miscarriages, the study said.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Human Biology, showed seasonality of early pregnancy loss in rural Bolivian women. The study showed that during periods of intense labor and low food the rates of early pregnancy loss can more than double.
"This finding applies to U.S. moms just as much as Bolivians, and it applies to psychosocial resources just as much as food supply," Vitzthum said in a statement. "As well as healthy food, pregnant women also need good working conditions and adequate social support from family, friends and workplace to keep their risks of early pregnancy losses low."
