Pregnancies among women with overweight/obesity have a higher risk for perinatal death, with risk partly mediated by a lower gestational age at delivery, according to a study published in PLOS ONE. Jeffrey N. Bone, MSc, and colleagues quantified the proportion of perinatal deaths among women with obesity/overweight. The analysis included singleton births during 2004- 2017 among nearly 400,000 women. Women with higher BMI had a lower gestational age at delivery. Additionally, perinatal mortality was 0.5% and was higher in women with overweight (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.22) and obesity (aOR, 1.55). Nearly two-thirds of this association (63.1%) was mediated by gestational age at delivery (natural indirect effect aOR, 1.32; natural direct effect aOR, 1.18). Effects were similar, but smaller, when comparing women with overweight to women with a normal BMI. “Timely obstetric intervention, coupled with access to [neonatal intensive care] earlier in gestation, may further mitigate the risk for neonatal death among infants in these women,” the study authors wrote.
