Pregnancy is affected by anorexia and bulimia. Women with both of these conditions, or a history of eating disorders experienced more fertility problems, unplanned pregnancies, and negative feelings about having children than women with no such history.
The need to provide extra support to women with current or prior eating disorders before conception and during pregnancy.
When planning a pregnancy or becoming pregnant we would encourage women with eating disorders, even if it was in the past, to discuss this with their doctors.
Failures in identifying preventable and treatable medical problems and wrongly putting the health of babies over that of mothers has led to a rise in deaths.
A rise in the number of "high risk" pregnancies, including older and obese mothers, has fuelled the problem.
Women are delaying childbearing until later in life, and the menopause is no longer a barrier to pregnancy.
Older women are more likely to be obese, have hypertension, or be predisposed to gestational diabetes and thromboembolism.