A new Canadian study finds that people with endometriosis may have a slightly higher risk of giving birth to children with congenital anomalies.
The research, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, analyzed more than 1.4 million births in Ontario between 2006 and 2021.
The researchers found that 6.3 percent of babies born to mothers with endometriosis had the congenital anomaly, compared with 5.4 percent of those born to mothers without the condition.
Dr. Olga Bougie said the increase in risk is small but significant because this is the first Canadian study to examine infant health outcomes associated with endometriosis.
“Endometriosis used to really be a condition of ‘bad periods,’ but it has such a huge impact on the lifespan of these patients,” Bougie told CTVNews.ca.
The study linked endometriosis to a slightly increased risk of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, genital and musculoskeletal birth defects, including cleft palate and pulmonary artery stenosis.
Bougie said researchers still don’t know exactly why the increased risk exists and whether inflammation, fertility treatments or the condition itself is responsible.
Endometriosis affects approximately one million people in Canada.
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