Abstract: Background: Obesity in women has a significant impact on every aspect of female reproductive life both in terms of infertility and pregnancy complications. The aim of this study is to know the impact of Pre pregnancy BMI on the maternal and perinatal outcomes in a tertiary care centre.
Methods: A prospective comparative study done at a tertiary care centre in South India. According to pre pregnancy body mass index (BMI), participants were categorized into two groups of 200 each, women with BMI 20-24.9Kg/m2 belong to control group and overweight (BMI 25-29.9Kg/m2) and obese (BMI > 30Kg/m2) women belong to study group. The maternal and fetal outcomes were compared by univariate and multivariate analysis.
Results: Compared to women with normal BMI, the following outcomes were significantly more in obese pregnant women gestational diabetes mellitus (RR=3.94); hypertensive disorders (RR=4.81) and large for gestational age (RR=9.43). Spontaneous onset of labour was recorded in 58.5% of women with normal pre-pregnancy BMI, whereas 54.5% of obese women had their labour induced. Among women with induced labor, obesity was a significant risk factor for delivery by C-section (p<0.001).
Conclusion: It is readily apparent that obesity in pregnant women is associated with significant adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes.