Prepregnancy Weight and the Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

Abstract

Higher maternal weight before pregnancy increases the risk of late fetal death, although it protects against the delivery of a small-for-gestational-age infant.

Fetal macrosomia and adolescence obesity: results from a longitudinal cohort study

“…36,37 The slow growth-and accelerated growth-related adverse health outcomes in later life may represent different disease mechanisms, and both may be modified by growth during infancy and childhood. 32,35,38 Therefore, the significance of macrosomia is not just for its relationship with short-term outcomes such as prolonged labor, cesarean section, and birth injury. The possibility of increased risk on long-term health outcomes, such as obesity, in childhood and adulthood of macrosomia should be considered as well.…”

Caesarean section and risk of unexplained stillbirth in subsequent pregnancy

“…Obesity is associated with a doubling in risk of late fetal death in parous women. 28 Also, some study results have suggested that obese women are at increased risk of caesarean section, 29 although results are inconsistent. 30 Our results might be accounted for by a confounding effect of obesity, but this is unlikely for several reasons.…”

“…Third, the association between previous caesarean birth and stillbirth was stronger than that described for a body-mass index greater than 30. 28 Moreover, if the excess of antepartum stillbirths in the previous caesarean delivery group was caused by a confounding effect of a known risk factor, it was not being addressed; these deaths occurred at term, when elective caesarean delivery has little risk of neonatal death. 7 Although the association between previous caesarean delivery and the risk of unexplained stillbirth is unlikely to be due to an unmeasured confounder, we cannot exclude this possibility.…”

Energy and protein intake during pregnancy in relation to preterm birth: A Case Control Study

“…There seems to be an upward trend [2,3], which contributes to almost 3.6 million preterm births accounting for 23.6% of the global preterm births reported each year [4]. Preterm birth has been consistently associated with maternal underweight and nutrient deficiencies during pregnancy [5][6][7][8][9]. Therefore, nutritional assessment needs to be an integral part of antenatal care and should be continued during pregnancy in order to reduce the risk of maternal, fetal and neonatal complications, as well as the short-and long-term adverse outcomes.…”