The reduction in macrosomia prevalence over a decade following the intensive intervention programs

Objective

To assess changes in macrosomia prevalence following a two-stage lifestyle intervention program.

Methods

The study collected annual delivery data from singleton pregnant women at the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in Beijing, China (2014–2023). The first intervention stage involved nutritional assessment and lifestyle management in pregnancy, and maternal weight and fetal growth monitoring were added in the second stage, with intensive management as necessary. Pre-intervention births (2014–2016) served as controls. The change in macrosomia and low birth weight prevalence following the intervention was assessed by an interrupted time series analysis.

Results

Among 126,824 pregnant women, macrosomia prevalence decreased from 7.11 % to 4.15 % over ten years, with an accelerated decrease post-intervention (p for slope = 0.050 and 0.004 for the first and second stages), primarily contributed by the reduction in excessive gestational weight gain (adjusted population attributable risk = 28.6 %, p for Granger cause = 0.0001). The change in the increasing rate of low-birth-weight prevalence was non-significant.

Conclusions

Macrosomia prevalence significantly decreased over a decade following the intensive intervention programs.