| Summary: | Introduction: Obesity in pregnancy has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. In this study, we estimate the prevalence of early pregnancy obesity and the impact on materno-fetal outcomes.
Materials and Methods: A cohort of 176 pregnant women were purposively recruited before 20 weeks. Women <18 years, with multiple pregnancies or chronic medical conditions, were excluded from the study. Body mass index (BMI) grouping was done at the first clinic. Data were presented as means (standard deviation) and proportions and differences compared using Chi-square or ANOVA.
Results: Early pregnancy weight of 173 women followed up from booking to delivery showed 41.2%, 24.3%, and 32.2% were normal weight, overweight, and obese, respectively. At recruitment, the mean age, mean BMI, and mean gestational age were 31.7 ± 4.4 years, 27.1 ± 5.3 kg/m2, and 14.4 ± 3.2 weeks, respectively. Compared to normal weight women, the obese were older (31.1 ± 4.0 vs. 32.8 ± 4.1, P = 0.06) and of higher parity >2 (19.2% vs. 36.9%, P = 0.17). Compared to those with normal BMI, occurrence of gestational diabetes mellitus (1.3% vs. 10.53%) and preeclampsia (6.9% vs. 14.0%) were more in obese women whereas overweight women had higher occurrence of pregnancy-induced hypertension (6.9% vs. 16.3%) and preeclampsia (6.9% vs. 13.95%). At delivery, compared to normal weight, obese women had more cesareans (57.5% vs. 69.7%), more deliveries <37 weeks (20.6% vs. 41.07%), more babies <2.5 kg (13.7% vs. 25.0%), acrosomic (9.6% vs. 12.5%), and more special care baby unit admissions (4.1% vs. 10.7%).
Conclusion: Even in low-resource setting, obesity in pregnancy is not uncommon. Affected women would benefit from prepregnancy interventions.
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