Mild maternal sleep-disordered breathing during pregnancy and offspring growth and adiposity in the first 3 years of life

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) during pregnancy has been linked to adverse fetal outcomes. Since the intrauterine milieu plays a critical role in childhood growth, we explored the interactions between maternal SDB and offspring growth and adiposity patterns during infancy. Fifty-eight healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies underwent an objective sleep study and laboratory evaluation during the third trimester, their offspring underwent a 3-year growth surveillance. The 14 (24.1%) women with SDB had a higher body mass index (BMI) (P=0.003), elevated C-reactive protein levels (P=0.003), and decreased HDL-cholesterol levels (P=0.009) than the women without SDB. A general linear model evaluated the interactions between maternal SDB and offspring growth and adiposity measurements after controlling for gestational age and maternal and paternal BMIs. The offspring of mothers with SDB had a significantly smaller head circumference at birth (P=0.004), with a distinctive pattern of catchup growth by the end of the first year of life (P=0.018). Their growth pattern was distinguished by compromised birth weight-to-length, rapid catch-up growth, and an increase in both weight-to-length and triceps thickness by the age of three (P<0.001 and P=0.001, respectively). Our findings suggest that maternal SDB during pregnancy affects head circumference growth and adiposity acquisition from birth through infancy.