Women’s fertility – an essential component of health and well-being
Description: Popular science description: Over the past 50 years, women's health has improved, while fertility patterns have shifted. Women now have fewer children, give birth later, and more often require medical assistance to conceive. Reduced fertility, pregnancy complications, and childlessness are associated with a higher risk of chronic disease and premature death. Yet, important knowledge gaps remain regarding how fertility and health interact. In addition to biological mechanisms, social context plays a crucial role in fertility and its health consequences. For instance, whether a woman has given birth, breastfed, or never been pregnant is associated with social circumstances, biology, and lifestyle. Having children may also affect the social and practical support available later in life, which also can influence a woman’s health throughout her life. Understanding the causes and consequences of reduced fertility is essential for understanding women's health, well-being, and disease risk. While some causes of reduced fertility are known, much is still not explored. In this project we have explored underlying factors linking women’s fertility and health. For example, we have showed that experiencing multiple miscarriages is associated with longer time to conception, and that endometriosis increases the risk of pregnancy complications. Fertility is also connected to risk factors for chronic diseases; we found that sleep, smoking, and cardiovascular risk factors are associated with different fertility outcomes. We also observed that the timing of puberty plays a role in later fertility. As our study includes data from two generations, we could explore mechanisms that may influence fertility related measures across generations. For instance, we found that a parent’s own birthweight may predict the likelihood of giving birth to a large baby, and that young adults that were themselves conceived through assisted reproduction did not have increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes when they became pregnant than those who were conceived naturally. We also found that children of parents with reduced fertility had higher BMI and other metabolic risk indicators as young adults, although more data are needed to further investigate these findings. In addition to data from MoBa mothers, this project included newly collected data on young women aged 18–24. These participants have been followed since before birth, allowing us to study how lifestyle and environmental factors all the way back to fetal life might influence fertility in young women today. We have also followed older women for up to 20 years after they gave birth and found, for example, that women who underwent assisted reproduction did not have increased risk of stroke or other serious cardiovascular events. We have also showed that the interval between pregnancies is important for women's health and pregnancy outcomes. The project included research on genetic and epigenetic factors, including telomere length, and found that the pace of biological aging plays a role in female fertility. A unique aspect of this project is that we were able to study the male partner’s contribution to fertility, helping to better distinguish male and female factors in reduced fertility. Genetic and environmental influences on female fertility and health will continue to be studied in follow-up work. By combining data on mothers and young women, the project will continue to provide valuable insight into how fertility-related factors may be inherited and how they unfold across a woman's life course. Because fertility, pregnancy, and the number of children in each family are tightly linked to women's long-term health, the insights from this project are vital for developing effective strategies for improving prevention, healthcare and public health policies.
Project summary: During the past 50 years, the general health of women have increased. However, in the same time period, an increasing number of women seek treatment for infertility. Infertility, and childlessness, is associated with increased risk of early death and chronic disease. The mechanisms behind these associations are poorly understood. Both social and biological pathways are suggested. Underlying causes of subfertility may contribute to later disease risk. Not having been pregnant, breastfeeding or having children may directly affect the physiology, but also the lifestyle and social support of women, and thereby increase the risk of adverse health. Understanding the causes and consequences of infertility is important for understanding women’s health and well-being. Although some causes of female infertility are well known, others are not. In this project we will examine 800 young women ages 18-24 and describe their reproductive potential through clinical examinations. These women have been followed from fetal life through childhood in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child study (MoBa). We will invstigate how fetal and childhood factors relate to reproductive status. Genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors risk factors will be studied as potential links between reproduction and chronic disesases. The mothers in MoBa will be up to age 70 during the study period. We will study how their fertility history and several measures of reduced fertility relate to chronic diseases in adulthood and older age. We will link MoBa to Norwegian health registries to identify chronic diseases during their adult life. The results from this study will increase knowledge on the importance of reproductive potential and ferility in women's health. Early detection of women with reduced reproductive potential may guide policy and advice to women. Given the established association between infertility and adverse health and well-being, the potential public-health benefits are significant.
Teaser: Over the past 50 years, women's health has improved, while fertility patterns have shifted. Women now have fewer children, give birth later, and more often require medical assistance to conceive. Reduced fertility, pregnancy complications, and childlessness are associated with a higher risk of ch...
Disciplines: [["Medisin og helsefag", "Helsefag", "Epidemiolog, med./odont. stat."]]
Geographies: [["Oslo - Oslove", "Oslo - Oslove"]]
Funder: Norges Forskningsråd
Amount: NOK 16,000,000
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: HELSEFORSKNING-Helseforskning
Start date: 2021-01-01
End date: 2025-12-31
Investigator: Siri Eldevik Håberg
Institution: FOLKEHELSEINSTITUTTET
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: rcn-foriss-320656
OpenAlex ID: G6170721026