Pregnancy condition programmes babies to become overweight in later life

Babies born to mothers who suffer from a rare metabolic complication during pregnancy could be programmed to be overweight. Babies born to mothers who suffer from a rare metabolic complication during pregnancy are programmed to be overweight, according to a study co-authored by researchers at Imperial College London. The study, published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, is the first to look at the long term effects on babies born to mothers with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), also called obstetric cholestasis, a complication of pregnancy characterised by the build-up of bile acids in the bloodstream. The findings add to evidence that the environment that babies are exposed to in the womb is a major cause of metabolic diseases in adults. ICP can affect up to one in 50 pregnant women and is caused by disruption in the flow of bile, a fluid produced by the liver to help with the digestion of fats. This can result in some leakage of bile, and in particular bile salts, into the bloodstream leading to symptoms including persistent itching and complications for both mother and baby. The researchers looked at a cohort of babies born in Northern Finland between 1985 and 1986 and identified 45 babies who were born to mothers with ICP who were of healthy weight and had no other known diseases or complications, such as diabetes.