Boyfriends and husbands of the world, here’s some good news for your sex life: A recent study found that oral sex is associated with a lower risk of recurrent miscarriage—specifically, oral sex performed by women on their male partners.
The study, published in the Journal of Reproductive Immunology, looked at two groups of women. The first group included women who had experienced recurrent miscarriage, defined as at least three unexplained miscarriages prior to the 20th week of pregnancy. The second control group was made up of women who had had uneventful pregnancies.
After asking all the women about their oral sex habits, the researchers found that 41 out of 72 women who had experienced recurrent miscarriage had performed oral sex, while 70 women out of 96 in the control group said they had oral sex.
The researchers didn’t make the claim that performing oral sex prevents miscarriage. But they did note the association between fellatio and a lower rate of recurrent miscarriage among the study subjects. They raised the possibility that oral exposure to semen “modifies the maternal immune system, resulting in more live births,” study authors wrote.
Sure the sample size for the study was small, which the researchers acknowledged. And they only make an association between recurrent miscarriage and semen, one they hope other scientists will explore in the future. But it’s an interesting connection.
An estimated 1% of women experience recurrent miscarriage, and in many cases, the cause is never found, according to the study. The researchers suggested that oral exposure to semen could help build up maternal tolerance to paternal antigens, potentially reducing miscarriage odds.
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