Pregnancy outcome of the obese in Ilorin

Obesity is a nutritional disorder that is fast becoming a public health issue in the developing world. It is associated with increased incidence of maternal complications and adverse perinatal outcome.

This is a case-control study of obesity in pregnancy carried out in the maternity wing of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. The subjects and controls were 156 obese and 80 non-obese women booked at this hospital for antenatal care. The controls were matched for age and parity. Obesity occurred more commonly among the well educated (P = 0.00) and those in social classes I and II (P = 0.00). The occurrence of other medical conditions was not significantly different. The obese women also had more caesarean sections (P = 0.00), more assisted vaginal deliveries (P = 0.00) and fewer spontaneous vaginal deliveries (P = 0.00) than the non-obese parturients. The mean birth weight of infants of the obese mothers was 4.06 ± 0.13 kg (mean±SD) while the mean for the controls was 3.36 ± 0.49 kg. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.000). Also, the obese parturients had more macrosomic babies (defined as birth weight >4.2 kg) than the non-obese (P = 0.00). The risks of perinatal asphyxia, birth trauma, neonatal admission and low birth weight were not increased among obese women in this study.

This study suggests that in our community, obesity occurs more commonly among women of high socioeconomic status and is a risk factor for maternal and fetal complications.