Diet May Impact Risk of Miscarriage

One in six pregnancies ends in miscarriage. While there are many known causes, including chromosomal problems and infections in the womb, nearly half of pregnancy losses remain unexplained.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham, in the UK, analyzed 20 studies that examined the eating habits of 63,838 healthy women of childbearing age in the months before and shortly after conception to see whether there was evidence of an association with a lower or higher chance of miscarriage. The review, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, found that, compared to low consumption, high intake of fruit was associated with a 61 percent reduction in miscarriage risk, and high vegetable intake was associated with a 41 percent reduction.

Risk reduction was also linked to dairy products (37 percent), grains (33 percent), seafood (19 percent) and eggs (19 percent). The evidence was uncertain for red meat, white meat, fat and oil, and sugar substitutes. The researchers looked at whether specific types of diets (such as the Mediterranean Diet or Fertility Diet) were also linked to miscarriage risk, but they could not find evidence that following any of these diets lowered or raised risk.