Maternal Triglyceride Levels during Early Pregnancy are Associated with Birth Weight and Postnatal Growth

Objective To investigate whether randomly sampled maternal total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) levels during early pregnancy are associated with birth weight (BW) and postnatal growth. Study design Data were derived from the prospective Amsterdam Born Children and their Development cohort study. Randomly sampled TC and TG levels were determined in early gestation (median, 13; IQR, 12-14 weeks). Outcome measures were BW SDS and weight-for-gestational age; postnatal outcome measures were SDS in weight, length, and body mass index during the first year of life (total n = 2502). Results The highest TG level was associated with a higher BWSDS (differences 0.20 +/- 0.06 between highest and middle quintile; P = .002) and with a higher prevalence (13%) of an infant large for gestational age compared with middle quintile (9%; P = .04). Infants from mothers in the lowest TG quintile had lower SDS in weight, length, and body mass index until age 3 months, and displayed accelerated postnatal growth patterns. Maternal TC was not associated with BW or postnatal growth. Conclusion High maternal TG levels in the first term of pregnancy were associated with higher BWs and subsequently a higher occurrence of infants large for gestational age, whereas low TG levels were associated with accelerated postnatal growth. (J Pediatr 2011;159:736-42).