Maternal Body Mass Index at Term Does Not Predict the Severity of Preeclampsia
Tuangsit Wataganara MD*, Dittakarn Boriboonhirunsarn MD*, Vitaya Titapant MD*, Sujin Kanokpongsakdi MD*, Prasert Sunsaneevithayakul MD*, Chanchai Vantanasiri MD*
Affiliation : * Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok
Objective : Maternal pre-pregnancy weight is a risk of developing preeclampsia. Whether it is also associated
with the disease severity is still elusive. This retrospective cohort was to determine the association between
body mass index (BMI) at term and severity of preeclampsia.
Material and Method: BMIs on the delivery date of 229 patients were analyzed with various indicators of the
disease severity. The corrected BMI (cBMI), calculated by an exclusion of feto-placental unit, was additionally
analyzed.
Results : Neither maternal BMI nor cBMI correlated with the disease severity (p = 0.15 and 0.36). Patients
who did and did not require MgSO4 do not have different BMI or cBMI (p = 0.12 and 0.23). Neonatal weight
from severe disease arm does not differ from those with mild disease (p = 0.51). Counter-intuitively, the
correlations between birth weight and maternal BMI were stronger in the severe compared to the mild group
(p = 0.0 and 0.03).
Conclusion : Neither BMI nor cBMI at the time of delivery predict the severity of preeclampsia or the need for
seizure prophylaxis. Birth weight of the baby born from preeclamptic mother might be affected by multiple
factors.
Keywords : Preeclampsia, Obesity, Body mass index, Fetal growth
