Mother's obesity linked to high infant mortality

Nebraska, January 31: Obesity prevention programs might also help contain infant death rates, as researchers have found a link between mothers’ obesity and death risk of infants born to them.

The researchers’ team led by Dr. Aimin Chen of Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, has observed that babies born to obese women are at greater risk of death, as early as within first 28 days of their lives, as compared to those born to normal weight women.

Using the data from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey, the researchers studied and compared the records of 4,265 babies who died in infancy with that of 7,293 who survived.

The records showed that 8.8 percent of the babies who had died in their infancy had obese mothers as against 5.9 percent who survived.

Every obese woman carried a risk of infant death, but the risk increased with the weight gain per week. The women who gained the most weight, around 0.45 kilogram or one pound and above each week, had three times greater risk to cause infant death.

Women who gained lesser weight, around 0.15 kg or 0.33 pound a week, were 1.75 times more likely to cause infant death.

Even over-weight pregnant women, who may not appear obese, carry similar pattern of risks, and babies born to them are more likely to die in infancy.

The pre-pregnancy body mass indexdefine (BMI) is an important indicator of neonatal deaths. But, in case of obese women, delivery complications, chances of preterm birth and low birth rate are often higher, irrespective of pre-pregnancy BMI.

However, BMI does hold importance when infant death is caused due to respiratory problem, birth defects and SIDS, the risk of which is higher in obese women who show high-rise in BMI during pregnancy.

Since the data used for the study is quite old, belonging to 1988, its results may not hold exact relevance in the current time when infant death rate has dropped by 20 percent.

Nevertheless, it may still be helpful in checking the rate of pre-term and low-weight births that has not seen any significant decline over the years.