Fathers-to-be who keep fit ‘lower the risk of miscarriage’

FATHERS should get fit before trying for a baby, as poor male health raises the risk of miscarriage, a study has found.

More than a quarter of pregnancies may end in miscarriage or stillbirth if the father-to-be is obese, has diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, according to Stanford University.

Michael Eisenberg, an associate professor from the university’s School of Medicine, said: “We hypothesise that the father’s health and l i festyle could adversely affect the genetic make-up and expression in the sperm, and that this may alter how well the placenta functions.

“If the placenta isn’t working properly then this could lead to the pregnancy losses we observed. For instance, we know already that paternal smoking and diet can affect sperm quality.”

Data from US insurance claims covering nearly a million pregnancies were analysed. From 2009 to 2016, 22 per cent of pregnancies ended in miscarriage, stillbirth or ectopic pregnancy, and in 23.3 per cent of these, men were found to be obese, or had diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

The study showed that pregnancy losses increased with the mother’s age and other medical conditions, but the link between paternal health and pregnancy loss remained. The risk of miscarriage or stillbirth also rose with the age of the father – 4.6 per cent were over 45.

Prof Eisenberg said: “This is the first study to suggest pregnancies sired by men with increasing numbers of medical conditions are at higher risk of ending in miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or stillbirth.

“In the men we studied, the risk of losing the pregnancy was 17 per cent in couples where the father had no components of metabolic syndrome (diabetes, hypert ension or obesity) but i ncreased to 21 per cent where the father had one metabolic syndrome component, 23 per cent where he had two, and 27 per cent where he had three.”

He stressed the study could not prove poor paternal health was a cause of pregnancy loss but it did show links. The findings were published in the journal