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Effect of maternal age, height, BMI and ethnicity on birth weight: an Italian multicenter study

  • Elena Spada ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Giuseppe Chiossi , Alessandra Coscia , Francesca Monari and Fabio Facchinetti
Published/Copyright: December 19, 2017
Journal of Perinatal Medicine
From the journal Journal of Perinatal Medicine Volume 46 Issue 9

Abstract

Aim:

To assess the effect of maternal age, height, early pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and ethnicity on birth weight.

Subjects and methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted on more than 42,000 newborns. Ethnicity was defined by maternal country of birth or, when missing (<0.6% of records), by citizenship. The effect of maternal characteristics on birth weight was evaluated with general linear models.

Results:

Maternal height and BMI, although not age, significantly affected birth weight. Among Italian babies, 4.7% of newborns were classified as appropriate-for-gestational age (AGA) (birth weight between the 10th and the 90th centile) according to the country-specific Italian Neonatal Study (INeS) charts and were re-classified as either large-(LGA) (birth weight >90th centile) or small-(SGA) (birth weight <10th centile) for gestational age (GA) after adjustment for maternal characteristics. On the contrary, 1.6% of Italian newborns were classified as SGA or LGA according to the INeS charts and re-classified as AGA after adjustment. Maternal ethnicity had a significant impact on birth weight. Specifically, babies born to Senegalese mothers were the lightest, whilst babies born to Chinese mothers were the heaviest.

Conclusions:

Maternal height and early pregnancy BMI, should be considered in the evaluation of birth weight. The effect of ethnicity suggests the appropriateness of ethnic-specific charts. Further studies are necessary to determine if changes in birth weight classification, may translate into improved detection of subjects at risk of adverse outcomes.

Keywords: Birth weight; customized charts; fetal charts; large-for-gestational age; maternal age; maternal BMI; maternal ethnicity; maternal height; neonatal charts; small-for-gestational age

  1. Author’s statement

  2. Conflict of interest: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  3. Material and methods: Informed consent: Informed consent has been obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  4. Ethical approval: The research related to human subject use has complied with all the relevant national regulations, and institutional policies, and is in accordance with the tenets of the Helsinki Declaration, and has been approved by the authors’ institutional review board or equivalent committee.

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Received: 2017-03-28
Accepted: 2017-11-07
Published Online: 2017-12-19
Published in Print: 2018-11-27

©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Fetal anomalies – From prenatal diagnosis to therapy
  4. Corner of Academy
  5. The first trimester aneuploidy biochemical markers in IVF/ICSI patients have no additional benefit compared to spontaneous conceptions in the prediction of pregnancy complications
  6. Research articles – Obstetrics
  7. Assessment of strain and dyssynchrony in normal fetuses using speckle tracking echocardiography – comparison of three different ultrasound probes
  8. Inborn errors of metabolism in a cohort of pregnancies with non-immune hydrops fetalis: a single center experience
  9. Cytogenetic analysis in fetuses with late onset abnormal sonographic findings
  10. Fetal MRI, lower acceptance by women in research vs. clinical setting
  11. Neurological complications after therapy for fetal-fetal transfusion syndrome: a systematic review of the outcomes at 24 months
  12. Evaluation of management and surgical outcomes in pregnancies complicated by acute cholecystitis
  13. Pentaerythrityltetranitrate (PETN) improves utero- and feto-placental Doppler parameters in pregnancies with impaired utero-placental perfusion in mid-gestation – a secondary analysis of the PETN-pilot trial
  14. Early onset preeclampsia is associated with an elevated mean platelet volume (MPV) and a greater rise in MPV from time of booking compared with pregnant controls: results of the CAPE study
  15. Effect of maternal age, height, BMI and ethnicity on birth weight: an Italian multicenter study
  16. Risk factors and classification of stillbirth in a Middle Eastern population: a retrospective study
  17. Selective IUGR in dichorionic twins: what can Doppler assessment and growth discordancy say about neonatal outcomes?
  18. Early fetal megacystis: Is it possible to predict the prognosis in the first trimester?
  19. Research articles – Fetus
  20. A poor long-term neurological prognosis is associated with abnormal cord insertion in severe growth-restricted fetuses
  21. Birth-weight centiles and the risk of serious adverse neonatal outcomes at term
  22. Short communication
  23. Maternal and neonatal vitamin D deficiency and transient tachypnea of the newborn in full term neonates
  24. Acknowledgment
https://doi.org/10.1515/jpm-2017-0102
Keywords for this article
Birth weight; customized charts; fetal charts; large-for-gestational age; maternal age; maternal BMI; maternal ethnicity; maternal height; neonatal charts; small-for-gestational age

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Fetal anomalies – From prenatal diagnosis to therapy
  4. Corner of Academy
  5. The first trimester aneuploidy biochemical markers in IVF/ICSI patients have no additional benefit compared to spontaneous conceptions in the prediction of pregnancy complications
  6. Research articles – Obstetrics
  7. Assessment of strain and dyssynchrony in normal fetuses using speckle tracking echocardiography – comparison of three different ultrasound probes
  8. Inborn errors of metabolism in a cohort of pregnancies with non-immune hydrops fetalis: a single center experience
  9. Cytogenetic analysis in fetuses with late onset abnormal sonographic findings
  10. Fetal MRI, lower acceptance by women in research vs. clinical setting
  11. Neurological complications after therapy for fetal-fetal transfusion syndrome: a systematic review of the outcomes at 24 months
  12. Evaluation of management and surgical outcomes in pregnancies complicated by acute cholecystitis
  13. Pentaerythrityltetranitrate (PETN) improves utero- and feto-placental Doppler parameters in pregnancies with impaired utero-placental perfusion in mid-gestation – a secondary analysis of the PETN-pilot trial
  14. Early onset preeclampsia is associated with an elevated mean platelet volume (MPV) and a greater rise in MPV from time of booking compared with pregnant controls: results of the CAPE study
  15. Effect of maternal age, height, BMI and ethnicity on birth weight: an Italian multicenter study
  16. Risk factors and classification of stillbirth in a Middle Eastern population: a retrospective study
  17. Selective IUGR in dichorionic twins: what can Doppler assessment and growth discordancy say about neonatal outcomes?
  18. Early fetal megacystis: Is it possible to predict the prognosis in the first trimester?
  19. Research articles – Fetus
  20. A poor long-term neurological prognosis is associated with abnormal cord insertion in severe growth-restricted fetuses
  21. Birth-weight centiles and the risk of serious adverse neonatal outcomes at term
  22. Short communication
  23. Maternal and neonatal vitamin D deficiency and transient tachypnea of the newborn in full term neonates
  24. Acknowledgment
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