Pre-pregnancy nutritional status versus maternal weight gain and neonatal size

Maternal weight during pregnancy may affect both, the course of pregnancy and the anthropometric parameters of the newborn. The steadily growing problem of excessive weight in reproductive-age women is associated with the risk for gestational obesity and its negative consequences for the infant.

The aims of the study were to analyze the following: (i) maternal weight gain as compared to the pre-pregnancy BMI, and (ii) the link between maternal weight and other environmental factors versus neonatal size.

The study was conducted among 94 women in singleton term pregnancy, who delivered at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Oncology, Medical University of Warsaw. The American Institute of Medicine criteria for the recommended weight gain were followed. Multivariate logistic regression model and multiple regression analysis were used for statistical analysis.

Normal weight gain was observed in only one-third of the subjects, while excess weight gain was detected in as many as 42.5% of the women. Active smokers were at a 4-fold higher risk for excess weight gain as compared to nonsmokers (OR 4.13, 95% CI 1.19 - 14.34, p = 0.026). Infants born to mothers with insufficient weight gain (24.5% of the mothers) were lighter by 302 g (p=0.0405) and shorter by 2.4 cm (p=0.0025) as compared to those born to mothers with normal weight gain.

Maternal weight gain in most of our subjects was not compliant with the current recommendations, regardless of the pre-pregnancy BMI. Inadequate pregnancy weight gain negatively affects the anthropometric parameters of the newborn.