An Observational Study on the Effect of Maternal Booking Body Mass Index on Pregnancy Outcomes at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria

Introduction: Maternal body mass index (BMI) is a useful indicator of the nutritional status of a pregnant woman. It is well established that maternal body mass index has an impact on pregnancy outcomes be it underweight, overweight or obesity. Thus, nutritional intake and weight gain are modifiable factors in determining pregnancy outcomes.

While it is largely known that obese women are more prone to developing gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, macrosomia, postpartum hemorrhage, and increased incidence of operative deliveries, effect of maternal underweight remains unclear.

Aim: The present study was aimed to determine the maternal risk in terms of antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum complications and perinatal outcome in relation to extremes of maternal BMI at booking.

Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted for a period of six months. A total of 146 subjects were recruited for study after satisfying all inclusion and exclusion criteria. All subjects were followed up till delivery and various outcomes were recorded. Analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.

Results: A total of 138 (94.5%) patients were in the age group of 20-39 years.

In underweight group, there was high incidence of miscarriage which affected 100% of patients.

Preeclampsia, Lower Segment Caesarean Section (LSCS), perineal tears, postpartum haemorrhage and foetal macrosomia were more frequent in BMI Group 3, 4, and 5 patients.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that extremes of maternal BMI at booking is associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcome. Adequate pre-conceptional Counseling should be given to all women of reproductive age group so that they can achieve Normal BMI prior to pregnancy.