Talk to your healthcare professional about birth control effectiveness and which options are most likely to work for you.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Being pregnant and obese is not a good mix. In fact, earlier this year, researchers found that obese pregnant women are more likely to suffer gestational diabetes, which in turn increases the chance of their children becoming overweight, too. But a new review of studies sums up the evidence that being too overweight affects the likelihood of pregnancy as well. The analysis suggests that birth control effectiveness drops in heavier women, depending on what form of birth control is used.

THE DETAILS: Researchers looked at seven studies that investigated hormonal birth control and pregnancy outcomes in nearly 40,000 women. They found evidence in four of the studies suggesting that heavier women are more likely than healthy-weight women to become pregnant while on birth control pills. Three studies looked specifically at the link between BMI and a higher risk of becoming pregnant while using hormone-based birth control; one of those found overweight and obese women and a greater likelihood of pregnancy while using the pill than women who weighed less.

---

Weight-loss advice from Prevention.com:
Sneaky Ways to Slim Down: 16 Simple, No-Pain Ways to Eat Less
Trim 100 Calories: 100 Easy Ways
One-Minute Weight Loss: Burn Calories in 60 Seconds

---

In other studies looking at weight and skin patch hormonal contraceptives, researchers found that women weighting more than 176 pounds had more pregnancies. Using data from the studies, the researchers found that body size might not throw off the birth control effectiveness of hormonal implants or shots; these worked about the same for women of all different weights. The researchers concluded that more studies are needed regarding body weight, BMI, and birth control effectiveness.