Infants of obese mothers have higher mortality risk

Infants of obese mothers have higher mortality risk
A newborn baby is put on a scale at a hospital in Suining, southwest China's Sichuan province September 14, 2007. Obese women are at increased risk of having their infant die soon after birth, especially if premature rupture of membranes (PROM) occurs before full-term, according to a report in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. (Stringer/Reuters)NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obese women are at increasedrisk of having their infant die soon after birth, especially ifpremature rupture of membranes (PROM) occurs before full-term,according to a report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
These findings may indicate there is a problem in how obesewomen with preterm PROM births are treated, Dr. Ellen A. Nohrfrom University of Aarhus, Denmark told Reuters Health. It isalso possible that "preterm infants of obese mothers may bemore susceptible when they are not protected by the membranes."
PROM occurs when the membranes rupture before labor begins,which is usually followed by labor and delivery. Umbilical cordcompression is the primary risk for the fetus, while infectionwithin the uterus is the major complication in the woman.
Nohr and colleagues used the Danish National Birth Cohortto investigate the association between prepregnancy obesity andinfant mortality, with focus upon different types of pretermbirths.
The infant mortality rate was higher in infants ofoverweight and obese mothers than in infants of normal-weightmothers, the authors report, even after consideration of othermaternal and infant risk factors.
Mortality in infants born after preterm PROM was more thantripled in infants of overweight women and was increased nearlysix-fold in infants of obese women, the report indicates.
High body mass index was not, however, associated withmortality in infants born after spontaneous preterm birthswithout preterm PROM.
The results were similar in infants with or withoutmalformations and after exclusion of infants born to women withobesity-related diseases or infants born to subfertile women,the researchers note.
"This is the first study indicating an elevated mortalityin infants of obese mothers after preterm PROM, and it istherefore too early to suggest changes in the management ofpregnancies in obese women," Nohr said.
"However, if these findings are causal and we understandthe mechanisms behind them, it may be possible to suggestpreventive measures," she added.
SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, November 2007.