title: Effect of maternal weight on postterm delivery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine the effect of prepregnancy weight and maternal gestational weight gain on postterm delivery rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective cohort study of term, singleton births (N=375 003). We performed multivariable analyses of the association between postterm pregnancy and both prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and maternal weight gain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prolonged or postterm delivery (41 or 42 weeks) was increasingly common with increasing prepregnancy weight (P<0.001) and increasing maternal weight gain (P<0.001). Underweight women were 10% less likely to deliver postterm than normal weight women who gain within the recommendations (adjusted odds ratio 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.83, 0.97)). Overweight women who gain within or above recommendations were also at increased risk of a 41-week delivery. Finally, obese women were at increased risk of a 41-week delivery with increasing risk with increasing weight (below, within and above recommendations adjusted odds ratios 1.19, 1.21, and 1.27, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated prepregnancy weight and maternal weight gain both increase the risk of a postterm delivery. Although most women do not receive preconceptional care, restricting weight gain to the within the recommended range can reduce the risk of postterm pregnancy in normal, overweight and obese women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, St Louis University, St Louis, MO 63104, USA. dhallor2@slu.edu
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Halloran
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Macones
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Caughey
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007233:Infant, Postmature; D016015:Logistic Models; D008429:Maternal Welfare; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult