Impacts of Bariatric Surgery on Pregnant Women: Analysis of Risks and Harms During Pregnancy

Abstract

Bariatric surgery has established itself as one of the main strategies for treating severe obesity, promoting significant improvement in metabolic comorbidities. However, when performed on women of childbearing age, it can directly impact pregnancy, becoming a topic of great relevance for maternal and child health. To analyze the impacts of bariatric surgery on pregnant women, focusing on the risks and possible harm during pregnancy. This is a narrative bibliographic study, of an exploratory and descriptive nature, carried out based on searches in the SciELO, PubMed, LILACS and Google Scholar databases, from January to April 2026. Articles published between 2016 and 2026, in Portuguese and English, were included. Controlled descriptors from DeCS and MeSH combined by Boolean operators were used. In the end, 16 studies made up the sample. It was observed that post-bariatric pregnant women are at greater risk of nutritional deficiencies, especially iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, calcium and vitamin D, associated with maternal anemia, intrauterine growth restriction and low birth weight. Studies indicate an increase in newborns small for gestational age and a higher incidence of premature birth, especially when the pregnancy occurs before 12 to 24 months after surgery. Malabsorptive procedures, such as gastric bypass, have shown a greater association with nutritional complications. The study synthesizes updated evidence on maternal-fetal risks in post-bariatric pregnancy, contributing to the strengthening of multidisciplinary monitoring protocols and individualized nutritional supplementation. Although bariatric surgery reduces comorbidities associated with obesity, pregnancy in this context must be considered high risk, requiring reproductive planning, strict nutritional monitoring and specialized prenatal care, in order to minimize complications and promote better maternal-fetal outcomes.