Getting Pregnant While on the Pill: Yet Another Health Hazard of Being
Overweight
Overweight and obese women who take oral
contraceptives are 60 percent to 70 percent more likely to get pregnant while on
the birth-control pill, respectively, than women of lower weight, according to
new findings from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center that will be published
in the January issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The study, led by epidemiologist Victoria
Holt, Ph.D., M.P.H., a member of Fred Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences
Division, is the largest case-control study of its kind to examine the link
between body-mass index and oral-contraceptive failure. The research was
conducted in collaboration with Delia Scholes, Ph.D., a senior investigator at
the Center for Health Studies at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle.
Science Blog December 29, 2004, Link
to article
