title: Effects of pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain on neonatal birth weight.
abstract: To evaluate the effects of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (pre-BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) on neonatal birth weight (NBW) in the population of Chinese healthy pregnant women, attempting to guide weight control in pregnancy. A retrospective cohort study of 3772 Chinese women was conducted. The population was stratified by maternal pre-BMI categories as underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5-23.9 kg/m2), overweight (24.0-27.9 kg/m2), and obesity (≥28.0 kg/m2). The NBW differences were tested among the four groups, and then deeper associations among maternal pre-BMI, GWG, and NBW were investigated by multivariate analysis. NBW increased significantly with the increase of maternal pre-BMI level (P<0.05), except overweight to obesity (P>0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that both pre-BMI and GWG were positively correlated with NBW (P<0.05). Compared with normal pre-BMI, underweight predicted an increased odds ratio of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and decreased odds ratio for macrosomia and large-for-gestational-age (LGA), and the results were opposite for overweight. With the increase of GWG, the risk of SGA decreased and the risks of macrosomia and LGA increased. In addition, in different pre-BMI categories, the effects of weight gain in the first trimester on NBW were different (P<0.05). NBW is positively affected by both maternal pre-BMI and GWG, extreme pre-BMI and GWG are both associated with increased risks of abnormal birth weight, and maternal pre-BMI may modify the effect of weight gain in each trimester on NBW. A valid GWG guideline for Chinese women is an urgent requirement, whereas existing recommendations seem to be not very suitable for the Chinese.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
authors.forename: Meng-Kai
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Ninghai County, Ningbo 315600, China.
authors.forename: Li-Ya
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
authors.forename: Meng-Lin
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
authors.forename: Min-Yue
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
authors.forename: Dan-Qing
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity; D016017:Odds Ratio; D050177:Overweight; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015430:Weight Gain
keywords: Appropriate weight gain pattern; Gestational weight gain; Neonatal birth weight; Pre-pregnancy body mass index