Prepregnancy Obesity and Birth Outcomes.
Susan L Averett1, Erin K Fletcher2
1Department of Economics, Lafayette College and IZA, 100 Quad Drive, Easton, PA, 18042, USA. averetts@lafayette.edu.
Maternal and Child Health Journal
|October 31, 2015
Summary
Maternal prepregnancy obesity is not associated with most adverse birth outcomes. Obese mothers had longer gestation and lower risk of preterm or low birthweight infants when comparing siblings.
Area of Science:
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Maternal-Fetal Medicine
- Public Health
Background:
- Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity is a growing concern linked to various adverse birth outcomes.
- Previous studies often show associations between maternal obesity and risks like cesarean delivery, macrosomia, and lower breastfeeding rates.
- However, confounding factors may influence these observed associations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between pre-pregnancy obesity and birth outcomes.
- To control for unmeasured familial factors by comparing siblings from the same mother using fixed-effect models.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 7496 births to 3990 mothers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.
- Examined outcomes including macrosomia, gestational length, low birthweight, preterm birth, large/small for gestational age (LGA/SGA), cesarean section, and breastfeeding.
- Employed Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and fixed-effects models for within-family comparisons.
Main Results:
- Fixed-effect models revealed no significant association between pre-pregnancy obesity and most birth outcomes.
- Pre-pregnancy obesity was linked to a lower risk of low birthweight, SGA, and preterm birth.
- Increased gestational weight gain (GWG) was associated with increased LGA risk when controlling for pre-pregnancy obesity.
Conclusions:
- Sibling comparison models challenge previous findings linking maternal obesity to increased risks of cesarean section, macrosomia, and LGA.
- Results suggest pre-pregnancy obesity may have a protective effect, associated with longer gestation and reduced likelihood of preterm or low birthweight infants.
- These findings highlight the importance of within-family analyses to disentangle genetic and environmental influences on birth outcomes.
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