High weight gain during pregnancy increases the risk for emergency caesarean section - Population-based data from the Swedish Maternal Health Care Register 2011-2012.
OBJECTIVE
The aim was to investigate maternal background factors' significance in relation to risk of elective and emergency caesarean sections (CS) in Sweden.


METHODS
Population-based, retrospective, cross-sectional study. The Swedish Maternal Health Care Register (MHCR) is a national quality register that collects data on pregnancy, delivery and postpartum period. All women registered in MHCR 2011 to 2012 were included in the study sample (N = 178,716).


RESULTS
The risk of elective and emergency caesarean section in relation to age, parity, education, country of origin, weight in early pregnancy and weight gain during pregnancy was calculated in logistic regression models.


RESULTS
Multiparous women demonstrated a doubled risk of elective CS compared to primiparous women, but their risk for emergency CS was halved. Overweight and obesity at enrolment in antenatal care increased the risk for emergency CS, irrespective of parity. Weight gain above recommended international levels (Institute of Medicine, IOM) during pregnancy increased the risk for emergency CS for women with normal weight, overweight or obesity.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a need of national guidelines on recommended weight gain during pregnancy in Sweden. We suggest that the usefulness of the IOM guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy should be evaluated in the Swedish context.
Department of Research and Development, Västernorrland County Council, Sundsvall, Sweden. Electronic address: karin.nilses@lvn.se.
Carin
C
Nilses
Department for Nursing, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Margareta
M
Persson
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health, Department of Statistics, Umeå School of Business and Economics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Marie
M
Lindkvist
Department of Clinical Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Kerstin
K
Petersson
Department of Clinical Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Ingrid
I
Mogren
D000328:Adult; D002585:Cesarean Section; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000068097:Maternal Health; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D012016:Reference Values; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden; D015430:Weight Gain
BMI; Caesarean section; Pregnancy; Socioeconomic factors; Weight gain