Influence of pre-eclampsia on fetal growth

• Published in: The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine 2003-03, Vol.13 (3), p.157-162
• Main Authors: Xiao, R., Sorensen, T. K., Williams, W. A., Luthy, D. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; AGE; Birth Weight; Black or African American; Black People - genetics; Case-Control Studies; Cohort Studies; Female; Fetal Growth Retardation - epidemiology; Fetal Growth Retardation - etiology; Fetal Growth Retardation - genetics; Fetal Macrosomia - epidemiology; Fetal Macrosomia - etiology; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; LARGE FOR GESTATIONAL AGE; LOW BIRTH WEIGHT; MACROSOMIA; Maternal Age; Medical Records; Odds Ratio; Parity; PRE-ECLAMPSIA; Pre-Eclampsia - epidemiology; Pre-Eclampsia - etiology; Pre-Eclampsia - genetics; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome; Pregnancy, High-Risk; Regression Analysis; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; SMALL FOR GESTATIONAL; Smoking; Sweden - epidemiology
• ISSN: 1476-7058; 1476-4954
• DOI: 10.1080/jmf.13.3.157.162

Objective: We examined the effect of pre-eclampsia on fetal growth in a cohort of pregnant women delivering singleton infants. Methods: Analyses were restricted to 155 women with pre-eclampsia and 5570 normotensive women. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) after adjusting for confounders. We estimated ORs for very low birth weight (VLBW; < 1500 g), low birth weight (LBW ; < 2500 g), and small for gestational age (SGA; weight ≤ 10th centile by each gestational age, race, sex and parity strata) in relation to maternal pre-eclampsia status. Results: After adjusting for maternal age, race, smoking, Medicaid status and gestational age, the OR for VLBW was 30.7 (95% CI 7.0-134.9). Pre-eclampsia was associated with a 3.8-fold increased risk of LBW (95% CI 1.9-7.5). Women with pre-eclampsia were 3.6 times more likely to deliver an SGA newborn as compared with normotensive women (95% CI 2.3-5.7). Advanced maternal age, African-American race, parity or smoking status did not modify the associations of pre-eclampsia with LBW and SGA. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with other reports that have documented a strong relationship between pre-eclampsia and restricted fetal growth. Further, our results expand the literature by documenting a particularly strong association between pre-eclampsia and VLBW. However, our findings regarding the relationship between pre-eclampsia and fetal growth may be confounded by unmeasured factors including maternal weight prior to pregnancy and pregnancy weight gain.