Pregnancy & Birth & hEDS/HSD
Pregnancy and Birth Complications in Hypermobility (hEDS/HSD)
None of us writing this are doctors. This page collects what the published research actually says about pregnancy and birth complications in hEDS/HSD, separate from pelvic girdle pain specifically, so you have something concrete to bring to your care team.
A large international survey gives the clearest picture yet of what actually happens more often during pregnancy and birth for people with hEDS/HSD - and, just as importantly, what the data says does not happen more often, correcting some assumptions along the way.
What Actually Happens More Often During Pregnancy and Birth
A 2023 study surveyed 947 people with hEDS/HSD about 1,338 total pregnancies, across the UK, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland. It found higher-than-typical incidence of preterm birth (roughly double the general population rate), pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, preterm rupture of membranes, antepartum and postpartum hemorrhage, hyperemesis gravidarum (severe pregnancy sickness), shoulder dystocia, cesarean wound infection, postpartum psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and precipitate labour (unusually fast labour).
The researchers concluded these were genuine elevations, not chance findings, because the general-population incidence ranges for these complications fell entirely outside the confidence intervals found in this study - a real statistical threshold, not just 'it seemed higher.'
What This Study Did NOT Find - Correcting Two Common Assumptions
Two findings are worth naming precisely because they push back on assumptions that circulate in hypermobility communities. First, this study found no increased incidence of stillbirth, consistent with earlier research on joint hypermobility syndrome. Second, and more notably, while some earlier, smaller studies had found a higher miscarriage rate among people with hEDS than the general population, this larger study found no increased incidence of miscarriage.
That does not mean earlier findings were wrong or that miscarriage concern is baseless - it means the evidence is genuinely mixed between studies, and this is the largest study to date on the question. If you have been told or have read that hEDS definitely raises miscarriage risk, the most current, largest evidence available does not support that as a settled fact.
What to do with this
If you have hEDS/HSD and are pregnant or planning to be, this research supports making sure your care team knows the diagnosis early, specifically so they can watch for preterm labor signs, membrane rupture, and excessive bleeding - the complications with the clearest evidence of elevated risk here. It is also fair to raise the miscarriage question directly with your doctor using this research: the most recent, largest study did not find an increased rate, which may be reassuring context alongside older, smaller studies that did.