A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that the more obese a woman is when she becomes pregnant, the greater the likelihood that her baby will be born with a heart defect.
Scientists found that obese women were 11 percent more likely than women of normal weight to have a baby with a congenital heart defect.
The reason for the finding remains unclear.
Scientists speculate that obesity can cause a wide range of abnormalities that can produce alterations in sugar and fat metabolism and cause changes in hormone activity.
