Lifestyle factors and miscarriage
/A Danish nationwide study has found that perhaps as many as 1 in 4 miscarriages can be prevented by changes in lifestyle. The study identified the risk factors in more than 90,000 pregnancies and found that older age, being underweight or overweight before pregnancy, and alcohol consumption, lifting heavy weights (> 20 kg), and night work during pregnancy were all linked to an increased risk of miscarriage before 22 weeks of pregnancy.
Most of these are lifestyle factors that can be adjusted before trying for a baby. We can't turn back time of course and one of the highest risk factors of all, older age, is not something that can be reversed. Nevertheless, the investigators of the study point out that the trend for women to delay childbearing is something that can be changed through good education programmes.