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Maternal deaths due to obesity? Not so much.

posted by [personal profile] mylescorcoran at 02:23pm on 05/12/2007 under , , ,
Compare this report from the BBC and this article at Junkfood Science and spot the difference.

So BBC, agenda much?

(Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] fjm for the original link to Junkfood Science.)
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There are 4 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

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posted by [identity profile] braisedbywolves.livejournal.com at 02:40pm on 05/12/2007
The report actually stated that among the maternal deaths, 51% occurred among women who were labeled ‘overweight’ or ‘obese.’ But ... 54.8% of women of childbearing age in Britain were labeled ‘overweight’ or ‘obese.’ In other words, fewer fat women than would be expected had died.

WHAT? That statistic makes no sense, you don't want women of childbearing age, you want actual childbearing women. Which I imagine is significantly lower because, everyone knows* if you want to have children you don't do it if you're obese.

*whether or not this is true, it's common wisdom and must surely have a skewing effect on the numbers.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] irishkate.livejournal.com at 02:44pm on 05/12/2007
yeah - it's not like being poor will get you dead or anything
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posted by [identity profile] marzut.livejournal.com at 07:40pm on 05/12/2007
They aren't talking about people who are overweight but those who are seriously overweight, like the woman whose waist was so big that they couldn't get the fetal monitor around it. The number of obese people over here hasn't gone up but the weight the obese people are has. I think it's the same with the skinny people, they have gotten even skinner. Also they obese mothers are being kept in hospital longer (NHS statistics) meaning there are fewer beds available to other pregnant women. On a plus side it's not as bad as in new zealand where they tried to offer women a €100 voucher if they left the hospital 6 hours after giving birth. It's the NHS who came out with the problems encountered with obese mothers (a couple of months back I think), I'm guessing the bbc put their own slant on it. They're are shortages in the maternity sector and they 'encourage' home births here.
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posted by [identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com at 09:21pm on 05/12/2007
They aren't talking about people who are overweight but those who are seriously overweight,

Actually the report was not only talking about people who are extremely overweight, or 'morbidly obese' in medical terms - it was refering to everyone with a BMI of over 25 or over. Those with morbid obesity (also known as patients with bariatric needs....) may well have more problems - but the report actually said that 51% were 'labelled overweight (BMI of 25 - 29.5) or obese' (BMI of 30 - 34.9) - although presumably they were including the severely obese (35 - 39.9) and morbidly obese (BMI over 39.9) in there too.

So the percentage of those dying in the peri-partum period who are overweight or obese is about the number you would expect, or slightly less, but it is probably a small enough sample size for that to not be statistically significant. Other factors were much more important than BMI.

Also they obese mothers are being kept in hospital longer (NHS statistics) meaning there are fewer beds available to other pregnant women.
There is no shortage of maternity beds in the UK - they are shutting maternity units down because of under-use in some places. It would probably be in the mid-term interests of the NHS to keep women in longer post-partum, as it seems likely that a period of rest p-p reduces the likelihood of poor pelvic floor recovery. So we would see less young women in the uro-gynae clinics, and have fewer of them eventually requiring corrective surgery - but it is not currently a fashionable idea!

Admittedly the women with high BMIs are more likely to have pelvic floor damage unrelated to childbirth.

One of the main problems for the NHS of very overweight, or bariatric, pregnant women is the need for wider delivery beds. The development of extra large beds, hoists, bedpans, etc. etc. is a very big growth area and an area where medical equipment suppliers are having a field-day!

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