Quarter of all miscarriages could be prevented with lifestyle changes, study suggests

New research from a group of Danish researchers suggests 25 percent of miscarriages could be prevented simply through lifestyle changes.

Published in BJOG: International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the study indicated that 50 percent of fertilized eggs are aborted spontaneously - even before mothers realize they are pregnant - due to chromosomal abnormalities, exposure to toxic agents, mental health disorders and illegal drug use.

Wanting to determine the preventable risks of miscarriage and the percentage of miscarriages caused by these factors, the researchers analyzed data from 90,000 pregnancies that took place between 1996 and 2002, tracking them through the use of a national registry in Denmark.

Weight and age were the most common factors associated with reduced pregnancy risk: Women between the ages of 25 and 29 who had a healthy body mass index were more than 14 percent less likely to miscarry, the study showed.

Some of the highest risk factors associated with miscarriage were drinking alcohol during pregnancy and a maternal age of 30 or over. Other miscarriages were found to have been caused by the woman's job, which in some instances included lifting heavy things on a daily basis or working late into the night.

Based on their results, the researchers stressed the importance of informing would-be mothers about "increased chances of having a successful pregnancy at a relatively young age."

The study is not without its critics, however.

"The study does not establish a causal relationship between its reported risk factors and miscarriages," Patrick Wolfe, a professor of statistics at University College London, told the Daily Mail. "The study has several statistical limitations, and so I caution that its conclusions may be subject to over-interpretation."