A liver condition that many people have never heard of may affect around one in six women of childbearing age worldwide. A 2025 global analysis estimated that 15.8% of women aged 15 to 49 were living with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in 2021.

Imagine Lisa, 31, arriving for her first pregnancy appointment. Five years earlier, routine blood tests had shown mildly raised liver enzymes, markers that can indicate liver damage. Further tests found excess fat in her liver. Because she also has obesity and type 2 diabetes, and other possible causes have been ruled out, her findings fit the diagnostic criteria for MASLD.

MASLD is the new name for what was previously called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. It describes excess fat in the liver alongside at least one metabolic risk factor, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity or abnormal levels of fats in the blood.

Now that Lisa is pregnant, she has a simple question: what does this diagnosis mean for her and her baby?

The evidence is still developing. Pregnancy-specific research and guidance on MASLD remain much less extensive than the evidence available for the condition in the wider adult population.

The issue is becoming increasingly relevant. Between 2010 and 2021, the estimated global prevalence of MASLD among women aged 15 to 49........

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