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In-hospital mortality and morbidity among extremely preterm infants in relation to maternal body mass index

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this paper is to compare in-hospital survival and survival without major morbidities in extremely preterm infants in relation to maternal body mass index (BMI).

Methods

This retrospective cohort study included extremely preterm infants (gestational age 220/7–286/7 weeks). This study was conducted at National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network sites. Primary outcome was survival without any major morbidity.

Results

Maternal BMI data were available for 2415 infants. Survival without any major morbidity was not different between groups: 30.8% in the underweight/normal, 28.1% in the overweight, and 28.5% in the obese (P = 0.65). However, survival was lower in the obese group (76.5%) compared with overweight group (83.2%) (P = 0.02). Each unit increase in maternal BMI was associated with decreased odds of infant survival (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Survival without any major morbidity was not associated with maternal obesity. An increase in maternal prepregnancy BMI was associated with decreased odds of infant survival.

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Fig. 1: Infant survival by maternal body mass index.
Fig. 2: Factors associated with survival to discharge without morbidities and survival to discharge.

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Funding

Supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA (UG1HD27904, UG1HD21364, U10HD68284, UG1HD27853, UL1TR77, UG1HD40492, UL1TR1117, UL1TR1111, UG1HD27851, UL1TR454, U10HD27856, UL1TR6, UG1HD87229, U10HD68278, U10 HD36790, UG1HD27880, UL1TR93, UG1 HD34216, U10HD68270, UG1HD53109, M01RR59, UL1TR442, UG1HD53089, UL1TR41, UG1HD68244, UG1HD68263, UL1TR42, UG1HD40689, UG1HD87226, UL1TR105, and U10HD21385).

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Authors

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Contributions

SC: developed the protocol, created data collection form, reviewed analysis, and drafted first version of the paper. ARL: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. EAS: reviewed the protocol, conducted the data analysis, and revised the paper critically. ST: reviewed the protocol, conducted the data analysis, and revised the paper critically. GN: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. MHW: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. NA: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. EFB: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. KPVM: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. DKS: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. EFW: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. RGG: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. AD: contributed to the conception and design, supervised the analysis, reviewed the protocol, and revised the paper critically. SS: contributed to the conception and design, reviewed the protocol, contributed to the analysis, and revised the paper critically. All authors approved the final paper as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjay Chawla.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Members of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network are listed in Supplementary information.

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Chawla, S., Laptook, A.R., Smith, E.A. et al. In-hospital mortality and morbidity among extremely preterm infants in relation to maternal body mass index. J Perinatol 41, 1014–1024 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-00847-0

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