Probiotics ‘can lessen risks during pregnancy’

PREGNANT women who take probiotics during pregnancy may lower their risk of pre-eclampsia and premature birth, a study suggests.

Researchers examined expectant mothers’ consumption of probiotics — live bacteria and yeasts usually added to yoghurts or taken as supplements.

The authors looked at data on more than 70,000 pregnancies in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Women provided information on diet, lifestyle and medical history at 15, 22 and 30 weeks of pregnancy.

Consuming probiotic products was more common among older, richer, better-educated mothers carrying their first baby.

The authors found that 23% of pregnant women had consumed probiotic milk products before their pregnancy; more than a third (37%) had done so in early pregnancy compared with 32% in late pregnancy.

They found that probiotic milk intake in late pregnancy — but not in pre-pregnancy or in early pregnancy — was significantly associated with lower pre-eclampsia risk. And probiotic intake during early — but not before or during late pregnancy — was significantly associated withlowerriskofpre-termbirth.

The study is an observational one, so no firm conclusion can be drawn about cause and effect, but the researchers said that if future trials found a causal association between probiotics and the reduced risk of pre-eclampsia and pre-term delivery then “recommending probiotics would be a promising public health measure to reduce these adverse pregnancy outcomes”.