Utility of modified mid-pregnancy body mass index in predicting obstetric outcomes in Middle Eastern population

Abstract

Objective: To test the value of mid-pregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) and weight gain in the second half of pregnancy in predicting pregnancy outcomes among Middle Eastern population where pre-gravid BMI was not available. Methods: Retrospective analysis of the obstetric outcomes of 290 women with singleton pregnancies who were categorized into underweight (UW), normal weight (NW), overweight (OW) and obese (OB) according to the BMI at 24-28 weeks of gestation and compared with recommended pre-gravid values by Institute of Medicine (2009). Results: The results showed that the gestational diabetes rate was significantly lower among the UW (2.4%) compared with the NW (8.8%, p<0.05), the OW (14.3%, p=0.006), and OB (20.5%, 0.001). The risk of having macrosomia was eight times higher among OW compared with NW women. The C-section rate was lowest among the UW group but there was no significant difference in terms C-section and low birth weight between groups. The obstetric outcomes among women whose weight gain was above the 90th and below the tenth centiles were not different. Conclusion: The prediction of obstetric outcomes by mid-pregnancy BMI is comparable to pre-gravid BMI. The results are encouraging, and further larger studies are needed to confirm the applicability