Association between delivery of a small-for-gestational-age neonate and long-term maternal cardiovascular morbidity

To investigate whether delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) newborn is a risk factor for subsequent long-term maternal cardiovascular morbidity.

Data were analyzed from consecutive pregnant women who delivered at Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel, between 1988 and 1999, and were followed-up retrospectively until 2010. Long-term cardiovascular morbidity was compared among women with and without SGA neonates.

During the study period, 47 612 deliveries met the inclusion criteria, and 4411 (9.3%) women delivered an SGA neonate. Delivery of an SGA neonate was a risk factor for long-term complex cardiovascular events, including congestive heart failure, hypertensive heart and kidney disease, and acute cor pulmonale (odds ratio [OR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-4.4; P = 0.006); and long-term cardiovascular mortality (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.5-7.6; P = 0.006). Women who delivered an SGA neonate had a significantly higher risk for cardiovascular mortality during the follow-up period (Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, P = 0.002). Delivery of an SGA neonate remained an independent risk factor for long-term maternal cardiovascular mortality (Cox multivariable regression: adjusted hazard ratio, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.5-8.2; P = 0.004).

Delivery of an SGA neonate is an independent risk factor for long-term cardiovascular morbidity in a follow-up period of more than 10 years.