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(U-WIRE) PROVO, Utah -- Studies usually report the risk of miscarriages increases with the mother's age; however, a recent study shows the father's age plays a role in the occurrence of miscarriages as well.
The study, published by the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, concludes that the risk of having a spontaneous abortion -- the medical term for miscarriage -- is highest if both the mother and father are advanced in age.
"You would think, theoretically, that as the father gets older, there might possibly be more chromosomal problems, and that would result in the baby's death," said Dr. Gus Hoffman, medical director for Brigham Young University's Health Center.
The study looked at 13,865 women between the ages of 30 and 52 and found the risk of spontaneous abortion was 60 percent greater when the father was age 40 or older than when he was 25 to 29 years old -- regardless of the mother's age.
Conducted this year, the study found that even for men in their 30s, miscarriage risk is about three times greater than for those under 25. The conclusion of this study adds to growing evidence that a man's age can affect his partner's pregnancy.
The loss of a baby during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy is considered a miscarriage. Most first-trimester miscarriages occur from chance chromosomal errors that happen while the embryo is first forming.
"Miscarriages have to do with malformations that are developing in the child," Hoffman said. "Nature takes its course on the embryo, and sometimes the embryo just isn't compatible with life."
According to the March of Dimes, an awareness campaign to help families have healthier babies, said as many as 50 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage -- most often before a woman misses a menstrual period or even knows she is pregnant. About 15 percent of recognized pregnancies end in a miscarriage.
Some health professionals said students should be cautious when interpreting the study's findings. Many BYU students do not fall in the 35 to 40 age range and, by the time students are in that age category, there may be new studies with new information.
"The total understanding on this topic is difficult because medicine changes so quickly sometimes that you're never quite sure," Hoffman said. "It is difficult to fully decide upon what should be done based on a study because sooner or later other information comes out and gives you a more correct path to take."
Usually a miscarriage cannot be prevented and often occurs because the pregnancy is not normal. Sometimes, a mother's good treatment of her body can improve the chances of a successful pregnancy.
Hoffman suggested if a couple is thinking about getting pregnant or if they find out they are expecting, no matter what age, the mother should take proactive steps, such as taking prenatal vitamins with folic acid, to ensure a safer and healthier pregnancy.
"For BYU students, the chance of getting pregnant in the first year after marriage in our population is relatively high," Hoffman said. "The problem is that you just don't know; most babies may not be planned for, and the benefit of folic acid is so early in the pregnancy that if you wait to find out you're really pregnant after a month then you've missed the critical time. Folic acid prevents neural tube malformations -- or the baby's spinal column -- which develops in the first 25 to 30 days after conception."
The risks involved with a baby's spinal column can result in a cleft spine, which is an incomplete closure in the spinal column, also known as Spina Bifida.
"You want to be taking folic acid for a few weeks before getting pregnant because the chances of your child getting Spina Bifida will be lowered by almost 40 percent," said Kimmy Holman, an RN in Labor and Delivery at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. "It will not hurt the mother to take folic acid before getting pregnant. If anything, the folic acid will benefit her general health and the child because these developments in the child take place before she's even sure she is pregnant."
Students interested in talking with a health professional about healthy pregnancies can contact the BYU Health Center, who has a dietician come to the center once a week to speak with students about safe diets.
(C) 2006 The Daily Universe via U-WIRE
