Divya Vishnu1, Bessy Binu Sam2, Kala Bahuleyan Santha3, Anu Susan Sam4
BACKGROUND
Maternal overweight/obesity causes many complications during pregnancy and delivery. It can also increase neonatal and infant morbidity and mortality. BMI is an important measure of under/overweight. This observational study examines the correlation between maternal Body Mass Index (BMI) with maternal outcome in women.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study was conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Government Medical College, Kottayam, Kerala, for a period of one year. A sample of 300 pregnant women with intrauterine pregnancy of gestational age <12 weeks at first visit was taken for this study with an age between 18 and 35 years with singleton pregnancy. BMI of these women were calculated and they were classified into two categories (BMI <23 kg/m2 and BMI ≥23 kg/m2). The Chi-square test was done to find the association of BMI and various maternal outcomes.
RESULTS
In the sample of 300 pregnant women, 39% were having BMI <23 kg/m2 and 61% were having BMI ≥23 kg/m2. Pregnant women with BMI ≥23 kg/m2 were found to have significantly increased risk of developing gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes and macrosomia. We found that a significantly increased need of induction and increased risk of developing intrapartum and postpartum complications in those with BMI ≥23 kg/m2. Our study also found out that an increased incidence of elective as well as emergency caesareans and increased risk of neonatal complications in women whose BMI ≥23 kg/m2.
CONCLUSION
Adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes are significantly related to extremes of BMI categories and least complications were seen in normal BMI group. Therefore, it is ideal to reduce the body weight to an optimal level so that the complications, which are attributed to overweight and obesity can be reduced. We recommended future research on the association of BMI and maternal outcomes involving large samples comparable to those done in developed countries.
