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Original poster

Miscarriage rates 40% higher in black women

36 replies

ArabellaScott · 27/04/2021 12:51

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56889861

Shocking report.

'The Lancet analysis of data on 4.6 million pregnancies in seven countries suggests being black increases miscarriage risk by 43%.'

OP posts:
SmokedDuck · 27/04/2021 14:50

That's a big number, but I am not sure it's very useful unless it can be broken down more. The information about obesity etc for one thing, it also needs to be correlated to things like poverty, families made up of first generation immigrants, smoking/alcohol use, and disorders that affect people of African origin more often.

I imagine some of them would turn out not to correlate at all, but as is, this really tells us very little, and it's useless in terms of anything actionable.

This article talks about this kind of study and why it's really a problematic approach at a larger level (there is a button to see the PDF):

socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/view/15650

TartrazineCustard · 27/04/2021 14:12

I saw this on BBC news today and it really grabbed my attention. A 43% increased risk is huge. Thanks for the links to the Lancet.

LibertyMole · 27/04/2021 14:06

I wonder why we don’t do more diabetes testing during early pregnancy.

I was tested for gestational diabetes in both pregnancies.

Tal45 · 27/04/2021 13:57

It seems to suggest that is might be related to uncontrolled diabetes or heart disease both of which increase risk of miscarriage. Personally I think there should be a lot more testing of diabetes in this country, we know there are thousands of people with it undiagnosed and it can cause terrible problems. Surely if someone has a miscarriage it would just make sense for them to be tested.

EmbarrassingAdmissions · 27/04/2021 13:29

@ArabellaScott

Ah, fab, thanks Embarrassing! I went to the website and got a bit bamboozled with all the diff journals etc
It's an ongoing irritation that news reports don't give a link to the study for those who'd be interested in taking a look.

It's even more irritating when it's a matter of wide-ranging interest and nuance.

Original poster
ArabellaScott · 27/04/2021 13:22

Ah, fab, thanks Embarrassing! I went to the website and got a bit bamboozled with all the diff journals etc

OP posts:
EmbarrassingAdmissions · 27/04/2021 13:05

Decent Lancet editorial for those who haven't seen it (should be open access for now) with links to the papers in the relevant series about miscarriage:

www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00954-5/fulltext

The specific 7 countries study is this one (and open access):

Miscarriage matters: the epidemiological, physical, psychological, and economic costs of early pregnancy loss

www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00682-6/fulltext

Original poster
ArabellaScott · 27/04/2021 13:02

'Most of the research was carried out in Sweden, Finland and Denmark, some of the few countries that gather statistics, though data from the US, UK, Canada and Norway was also used.'

The article is pretty scant on information, and I can't find the report on the Lancet website.

OP posts:
MildredPuppy · 27/04/2021 13:01

Shocking.

The positive thing about this article us it suggests a 3 step plan which will help. Thats really simple. There is something clear to ask policy makers for.

Please listen government

Dozer · 27/04/2021 12:54

That’s shocking.

I recall Prof Quenby from mc boards on fertility sites, think she’s a well respected expert.

eurochick · 27/04/2021 12:52

That is really shocking. I wonder why.