Maternal Characteristics and Prevalence of Infants Born Small for Gestational Age

Being born small for gestational age (SGA) is a risk factor for neonatal mortality and adverse outcomes in the short and long term. The maternal profile in China has substantially changed over the past decade, which may affect the risk of infants born SGA.

To analyze the prevalence of infants born SGA from 2012 through 2020 and explore the association of maternal sociodemographic characteristics and other factors with that prevalence.

This cross-sectional study examined data from the National Maternal Near Miss Surveillance System on women who delivered singleton live births at gestational ages of 28 to 42 weeks from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2020, in China. Statistical analysis was performed from December 2022 to September 2023.

Characteristics of delivery (year, region of country, and hospital level), mother (age, educational level, marital status, prenatal visits, parity, preexisting diseases, or prenatal complications), and newborn (birth weight, sex, and gestational age).

Prevalence of infants born SGA stratified by severity and by region of the country, changes in prevalence based on log-linear Poisson regression with robust variance, and association of maternal characteristics with changes in prevalence of infants born SGA between 2012 and 2020 based on the Fairlie nonlinear mean decomposition.

Among 12 643 962 births (6 572 548 [52.0%] male; median gestational age, 39 weeks [IQR, 38-40 weeks]), the overall weighted prevalence of infants born SGA was 6.4%, which decreased from 7.3% in 2012 to 5.3% in 2020, translating to a mean annual decrease rate of 3.9% (95% CI, 3.3%-4.5%). The prevalence of infants born SGA decreased from 2.0% to 1.2% for infants with severe SGA birth weight and from 5.3% to 4.1% for those with mild to moderate SGA birth weight. The mean annual rate of decrease was faster for infants with severe SGA birth weight than for those with mild to moderate SGA birth weight (5.9% [95% CI, 4.6%-7.1%] vs 3.2% [95% CI, 2.6%-3.8%]) and was faster for the less developed western (5.3% [95% CI, 4.4%-6.1%]) and central (3.9% [95% CI, 2.9%-4.8%]) regions compared with the eastern region (2.3% [95% CI, 1.1%-3.4%]). Two-thirds of the observed decrease in the prevalence of infants born SGA could be accounted for by changes in maternal characteristics, such as educational level (relative association, 19.7%), age (relative association, 18.8%), prenatal visits (relative association, 20.4%), and parity (relative association, 19.4%). Conversely, maternal preexisting diseases or prenatal complications counteracted the decrease in the prevalence of infants born SGA (-6.7%).

In this cross-sectional study of births in China from 2012 to 2020, maternal characteristics changed and the prevalence of infants born SGA decreased. Future interventions to reduce the risk of infants born SGA should focus on primary prevention.