Correlation between increased maternal body mass index and pregnancy complications

OBJECTIVE: Obesity in pregnancy carries significant maternal and fetal risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ma-ternal body mass index on pregnancy outcomes.PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study retro-spectively reviewed the clinical outcome of 485 pregnant women who delivered at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, during the period of three years (2018-2020) and compared them against the body mass index (BMI). Correlation coefficient was calculated for BMI and seven pregnancy com-plications (hypertensive syndrome, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, intrauterine growth restriction, premature rupture of membranes, mode of delivery and postpartum hemorrhage). The collected data were presented in the form of median values and relative numbers (the measure of variability). The implementation of the simula-tion model and its verification were carried out us-ing a specialized programming language, Python. Statistical models were created where the Chi-square and p-value were as determined for every observed outcome.RESULTS: The average age of the subjects was 35.79 years and average was BMI 29.28 kg/m2. A statistically significant correlation was found be-tween the BMI and arterial hypertension, gesta-tional diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia and cesar-ean section. The correlations between the body mass index and postpartum hemorrhage, intra-uterine growth restriction and premature rupture of membranes were not statistically significant.CONCLUSIONS: As high BMI correlates with a number of negative outcomes in pregnancy, weight control before and during pregnancy and proper antenatal and intranatal care are neces-sary to achieve a favorable pregnancy outcome.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effect of maternal body mass index (BMI) on pregnancy outcomes and found that high BMI is associated with various pregnancy complications. Therefore, weight control before and during pregnancy and proper antenatal and intranatal care are necessary to achieve a favorable pregnancy outcome.