Pregnancy Less Than 1 Year After the Bariatric Surgery: Is It Really Safe?

The time interval between bariatric surgery and pregnancy is controversial. In this study, we report and compare the outcomes of pregnancy from two groups of bariatric surgery (BS) patients who became pregnant less than 12 months (early) and above 12 months (late) after surgery.

For this retrospective study, women of reproductive age who became pregnant after BS between 2010 and 2019 were reviewed, allocated into two groups, and compared. Perinatal care was provided as standards and continued at monthly intervals by a gynecologist. Demographic data, pregnancy-related events, results of any screening tests in each trimester, the reports of all ultrasonographies, and lab data were extracted from their medical documents. Chi-square and t-test were used for analysis.

Four hundred seventy-seven out of 1046 participants were of reproductive age. 12 and 37 women were put in early and late pregnancy groups, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the rate of maternal complications, outcomes of pregnancies, and the rate of fetal and neonatal problems in pregnancies conceived during the first vs. second year postbariatric surgery. 91.6% of the patients with early pregnancy had at least one perinatal/neonatal finding. Mean neonatal birth weight was 2610 ± 152 and 2881 ± 315 g in early and late pregnancy groups, respectively. Patients with early pregnancy were not at significantly higher odds for any pregnancy-related or neonatal complications.

The rate of maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications in pregnancies conceived during the first vs. second postbariatric year were indifferent.