Abstract
The search for factors that can predict a large for gestational age (LGA) infant has, thus far, uncovered only maternal diabetes, large maternal size and seme uncommon genetic and metabolic syndromes. This study examined the relationship between mother's birth weight and the probability of producing a LGA (>90 percentile for age and sex) infant using prospectively collected data from the Collaborative Perinatal Project (Buffalo center). Among 1337 white women without preexisting diabetes delivering liveborn singleton infants, the percentage of LGA births was 2.4% for mothers weighing 4-5.9 lbs at birth, 7.3% for mothers weighing 6-7.9 lbs at birth, and 13.6% for mothers weighing 8 or more pounds at birth. (There were too few women weighing <4 lbs at birth to provide stable rates.) The association between the rate of LGA births and increasing maternal birth weight was highly significant (p<. 001). The odds ratios for delivering a LGA infant were adjusted for maternal height, weight, weight gain, smoking, age, education, socio-economic status, gravidity and glycosuria during pregnancy. After adjusting for all these factors, women weighing 8 lbs or more at birth were 5.1 times as likely, and women weighing 6-7.9 lbs at birth were 2.8 times as likely as women weighing 4-5.9 lbs at birth to have an LGA baby (p=.003 and .049, respectively). As a predictor of LGA births, mother's birth weight was better than either current maternal height or weight.
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Klebanoff, M., Mills, J., Berendes, H. et al. 554 MOTHER'S BIRTH WEIGHT: DOES IT PREDICT LARGE FOR GESTATIONAL AGE BABIES?. Pediatr Res 19, 203 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00584
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-00584