Low Cholesterol When Pregnant Triggers the Risk of Premature Babies

Medical Video: Causes Behind Premature Births

Premature babies are babies born too fast, ie less than 37 weeks. Based on data from the World Health Organization, in the world there are as many as 15 million babies born prematurely and this condition increases every year. The condition of a baby who is too young and actually not ready to meet with the outside environment, causes premature babies to be susceptible to various infections, complications, and not even rarely, these babies die. Complications that occur in premature infants result in 1 million babies dying in 2015. While premature babies who survive, tend to have disabilities or various health complications during their later life. But did you know that one of the causes of premature babies might be low cholesterol levels experienced by mothers during pregnancy?

Pregnant women need fat too

Fat is not always bad. Many people think that fat is bad, fat is not good for the body, fat causes various diseases. This is not entirely true, fat is also needed by the body. In general, fat serves to help metabolize fat-soluble vitamins, namely vitamins A, D, E, K. Not only that, when the body experiences a shortage of sugar as the main energy source, fat will replace the role of sugar as an energy source. However, what needs to be considered is the type of fat and fat content that is allowed to be consumed.

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In pregnant women, fat also plays an important role in bodily functions and for fetal development and growth. A study even states that fat in pregnant women is as important as glucose needed by a growing and developing fetus. Cholesterol levels in mothers are very important because they play a role in regulating hormones and changes in body function when pregnancy occurs. Actually, the level of total fat automatically, triglycerides, good fat (HDL), bad fat (LDL) will increase when the pregnancy enters the age of 2nd and 3rd trimester. Therefore, enough fat is needed by the mother to respond to various changes in body function.

Low cholesterol in pregnant women can cause premature baby birth

Not only is high total cholesterol that can cause babies to be born prematurely, it turns out that lack of cholesterol will also produce the same thing. This statement was proven in a study conducted by researchers from North Carolina. This study involved 118 pregnant women who had low cholesterol levels aged between 21 and 34 years. From the results of these studies, it is known that mothers who have low total cholesterol tend to give birth to premature children. 12.7% of babies born prematurely are born to mothers with low total cholesterol levels. This is quite high when compared with the incidence of premature only 5% occurs in women who have normal total cholesterol.

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Not only that, in this study it was also found that low levels of total cholesterol and LDL during the 3rd trimester were positively related to the occurrence of fetal growth disorders which caused various problems during labor. It is also known that babies born to mothers who have low cholesterol levels during pregnancy, especially in the last trimester, have an average birth weight of 124 grams lower than mothers with normal cholesterol levels.

Why do low cholesterol levels in mothers affect the birth of a baby?

The relationship between low total cholesterol levels and the incidence of preterm birth is still unknown. But experts say that cholesterol that is owned by the mother affects the development of cell membranes, hormone synthesis, division and development of every body cell in the fetus. Thus, low total cholesterol levels result in impaired growth and development of the fetus which then increases the risk of the baby being born faster or prematurely. In addition, mothers who have low cholesterol also have the opportunity to experience various complications during pregnancy.