Antepartum maternal weight indices, Maternal Serum Leptin and Birth Weight: A cross-sectional comparative study

Background: Obesity has adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes, including macrosomia. Both have adverse synergistic effects on each other. Aim and Objectives: To determine the association between Maternal weight, BMI, and birth weight. Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative study carried out over months. The case (experiment) group included neonates with macrosomia and their mothers. The control group was neonates with normal birth weight and their mothers. The maternal weight, height and body mass index were measured at booking and before delivery and categorized using the WHO obesity classification. The Data was analyzed using Stata statistical package version 14. Continuous variables, including age, birth weight, and mean leptin levels, were summarized by mean± standard deviation. There was a test of associations between variables to determine a significant relationship at a p-value of < 0.05. A total of 45 mother-neonate pairs that completed the study were used in the analysis. The study participants include 23 mother -neonate pair with normal weight and 22 mother-neonate pair with macrosomia. The mean birth weight was 3.78±0.05. The mean age of the women was 29.93±5.32, with the 25-29 age group being the modal age group. Only 2(9.09%) out of the 22 women with macrosomia had normal BMI at booking. There was a significant relationship between WHO Obesity class at booking and macrosomia (p-value=0.03). The mean maternal weight at delivery was 88.93±15.28. There was a significant association between the mean maternal weight before delivery and birth weight (83.17 for normal weight and 94.95±12.42 for macrosomia) p-value=0.004. The mean maternal serum leptin was 4.90±1.82. The value was higher but not statistically significant in women that gave birth to macrosomic babies. Conclusion: Maternal prenatal weight indices showed a significant association with macrosomia. As recommended by the World Health Organisation, pregnant women should be counselled on the need for proper weight gain during pregnancy and interventions should be instituted to make sure they achieve appropriate weight gain. Early booking should also be encouraged for proper counselling, dietary interventions and follow up.