Celiac Disease Raises Risk for Pregnancy and Delivery Complications in Women

OMG!  This article could have been written about me, although I went through 2 miscarriages and 2 pregnancies long before I was diagnosed.  My first pregnancy was a disaster.  I was dizzy and tired the entire time, so I had to quit my job.  My Blood Pressure started to climb at about 6 months.  I was put on phenobarbitol, but it did not lower the BP 1 point.  At 8 months I was hospitalized for a week of complete bedrest and a sodium free diet, because the doctor refused to believe I followed his instructions.  BP was actually higher on discharge.  He decided my due date had to be off because the baby was so small, so no C section was contemplated.

I went into labor 3 weeks after my due date.  The baby never dropped.  The baby was still small, so he accused me of causing him to miscalculate the due date.  After 37.5 hours of hard labor, a spinal and  high forceps delivery, my barely 5 pound baby was born. His head was like a banana.  He scored a 1 on his Apgar.  He was so late he had no sucking reflex, he was chapped, his skin was cracked and bleeding because all the protective "cheese" was long gone, and he was in respiratory distress.  He went immediately to the NICU, where he stayed for a week.

  The pediatrician came in for a visit while the OB was there and literally yelled at him for letting me go so far beyond my due date.  She said it was obvious from the baby's condition that I was probably close to a month overdue.  The OB came back a few days later and apologozed for repeatedly calling me a liar during my pregnancy.

2nd child was born 4 years later.  He too was small, but as soon as my BP started rising the doctor induced labor.

The kids were born in 1977 and 1981.  I did not get my Celiac diagnosis until 2007.  My oldest child was diagnosed a few months after I was, when he was 29.  The youngest just has really bad NCGS.  The thing they were most grateful for at the time was that within a week after cutting out gluten, the acne they battled since they were 13 was completely gone in a week, never to return.

But this article fails to explain the 'why'....if someone is 100% gluten-free and previously diagnosed Celiac....but are many years gluten-free and even their biopsies show zero sign of gluten exposure/damage---does the above findings still hold...and if so--why?  is it the lack of gluten in their diet?  or the continued presence of it?  way more info is needed to adequately assist those who cannot tolerate gluten due to Celiac...but are living a 100% gluten-free life w/ biopsies to prove it.  any thoughts?

thanks.

Hi Mary

You raise some valid points.  I'm not a scientist but what I can tell you is that I was diagnosed with coeliac disease around the same time as a friend who had had several miscarriages,.  It wasn't until she developed gastro symptoms that the doctor thought to check for coeliac disease.   She has never had another miscarriage since adopting a gluten free diet, and has had two children since, both carried to term.

Cristiana

thanks for your thoughts and observations, Christina.  I have come to the place when reading these types of articles that they almost never give the 'reason' someone diagnosed w/ Celiac will experience XYZ.  if it is because they are not following a 100% gluten-free lifestyle--then of course...they will have all sorts of things happening inside their bodies.  I think that these articles are missing a huge component when they do not use 'celiacs that are 100% gluten-free' in their research.  IMO

thanks.

As to "why?", that question is beyond the scope of the research sited in the article. It simply sought to establish statistically that it is so. "Why?" is the next step of research. But I agree with what others have said and that we know nothing about the gluten free compliance of the women celiacs in the study population. That could have a huge influence on the outcome. But again, it is likely that information wasn't available and so the study wasn't attempting to break it down into finer categories and as such, the results were valid when looking at the celiac population as a whole.

The "why?" can also be related to the nutritional deficiencies that most Celiacs develop, not only before diagnosis, but afterwards when these deficiencies are not corrected or worsen on the gluten free diet.

Quite a good post on the Coeliac UK website about theories why these issues occur.

https://www.coeliac.org.uk/information-and-support/coeliac-disease/conditions-linked-to-coeliac-disease/infertility-and-coeliac-disease/

thanks!

Thanks for the link, Cristiana. Good info and it addresses some of the questions raised by this article.

This study's goal was only to "examine pregnancy outcomes by analyzing a large database of maternal, obstetrical, and neonatal outcomes in mothers with celiac disease." It did find that celiac disease did indeed affect the outcomes of pregnancies, and cited the various negative effects that celiac disease had on those in this study. It's goal was never to understand why, simply to determine whether there was an effect, and if so what those effects were. It will take further studies to determine exactly how and why, but we have done many summaries of past studies on this topic, and they are all in this category in case you're interested:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/miscellaneous-information-on-celiac-disease/conferences-publicity-pregnancy-church-bread-machines-distillation-beer/

thanks!  the post to the EU studies did address some of my questions so that was a start and what I figured (ie: if you are living 100% gluten-free--these findings likely do not apply.). 

thanks for all you do, Scott

I am 100% gluten free celiac patient.  To achieve this you have to be 100% vigilant at home and away. Cross contamination at restaurants is real issue.  Many celiacs eat at places that say gluten free but are really only gluten aware.  I eat at only a few locations laces that specialize in gluten free food.  At other places I just enjoy a beverage while everyone else eats.  That can be uncomfortable for both you and your table mates.  But my friends know all about my disease and understand.  Never, never succumb to peer pressure to eat anywhere you are not completely confident. So many people say they are here or there and had no issues.  Those that use that highly flawed metric will suffer.  Those that are “100%” gluten free and use that flawed metric are probably the ones who have issues and do not understand why.  Good luck to my fellow celiacs.