Impact of maternal body mass index on obstetric outcome

The purpose of the present study was to correlate effect of maternal body mass index (BMI) on obstetric outcome. The studies conducted so far are from Western developed countries and there is a paucity of data from developing countries.

A prospective evaluation was carried out of 380 women in one unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital in North India from May 2005 to June 2006 on the effect of maternal BMI on pregnancy outcome. BMI was calculated as weight (kg) divided by height (m(2)). BMI was used to characterize women as lean (BMI < 19.8 kg/m(2)), normal (BMI 19.9-24.9 kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m(2)) or obese (> or =30 kg/m(2)).

Forty-six women (12.1%) out of 380 were underweight, 99 (26.1%) were overweight, 30 (7.9%) were obese and the remaining 205 (53.9%) had normal BMI. Anemia (P = 0.02) and low birthweight (P = 0.008) was significantly present among lean women. Obese women had a significant risk for gestational diabetes (P = 0.0004), pre-eclampsia (P = 0.004), cesarean delivery (P = 0.01) and macrosomia (P = 0.02).

Both lean and obese women carry a risk for adverse pregnancy outcome, therefore pregnant women should maintain a normal BMI to achieve a healthy pregnancy outcome.