title: Obstetric hazards of maternal obesity.
abstract: To test the hypothesis that obesity represents a risk factor in pregnancy, we conducted a prospective case-control study to determine whether or not there was any divergence in the obstetric outcome among 132 obese women from that in a control group of 136 non-obese patients. Obese mothers had an increased incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension and gestational diabetes but there was no significant difference in the duration of pregnancy or in the frequency of low Apgar score at 1 minute. The favourable fetal outcome in obese parturients reflects an increased awareness of the possible medical and obstetric complications and an early recourse to abdominal delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of the West Indies, Trinidad.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Roopnarinesingh
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Homer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bassaw
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sirjusingh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roopnarinesingh