Women who were born as preemies appear to have an increased risk of complications during their own pregnancies, a Quebec study suggests.
Researchers say the risk of complications such as high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia almost doubles for mothers who were born before 32 weeks, compared to women who were born full-term.
"We found that the more premature a lady was born, the higher the risk of having pregnancy complications," Dr. Anne Monique Nuyt, a neonatologist and researcher at Sainte-Justine University Hospital, said from Montreal.
Using provincial medical and birth records, the researchers looked at 7,405 women born preterm and 16,714 women born fullterm between 1976 and 1995 in Quebec. Of the preterm women, 554 were born at less than 32 weeks' gestation and 6,851 were delivered at 32 to 36 weeks.
Nuyt said among women born at less than 32 weeks, almost 20 per cent had at least one complication during pregnancy, compared with 11.4 per cent of women who were full-term babies.
"So it's nearly a doubling of incidence," said Nuyt, principal author of the study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
However, she pointed out that this type of research - known as an observational association study - cannot establish causality. In other words, it does not prove that a woman born prematurely or with a low birth weight will go on to have difficulties in her own pregnancies.
However, it does appear these women have an increased risk of complications, said Nuyt, calling the fact of being born premature a "new, not-yet identified risk factor."
While the mechanism that links a preemie mom with pregnancy complications in adulthood isn't known, Nuyt theorized there may be physiological changes related to a low-weight, premature birth that could set the stage for gestational diabetes or other complications.
The incidence of complications during pregnancy could also portend an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or Type 2 diabetes later in adulthood. "Some people consider pregnancy as an open window to the future of cardiovascular and metabolic health of a woman," she said.
Significantly more babies born before 32 weeks' gestation have survived in the last 30 years, compared with the past.
And that could mean a larger population will be at risk of high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and other related health issues, the authors say.
However, Nuyt doesn't want the study's findings to alarm people.
"Certainly, people should not be afraid of starting their family and of being pregnant. I think, like anything else, being informed - and therefore in turn making sure the health professional ... is also informed - is simply the key.
"And probably this might guide some tighter follow-up of making sure, for example, if there is a gestational diabetes, it is well-controlled."
