Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Objective: Fetal macrosomia is an important entity that effects maternal, fetal and neonatal well-being. Our aim was to investigate the maternal factors which cause fetal macrosomia and to investigate the pregnancy outcomes.
Patients and Methods: Three hundred forty-eight low-risk women who attended to our tertiary care institution for delivery and gave birth to a macrosomic infant were recruited as the study group, and 474 low-risk women who gave birth to a non-macrosomic infant were recruited as the control group. Individual, laboratorial characteristics, and neonatal health variables were compared between two groups.
Results: Maternal age, prepregnancy and peripartum body mass indices, weight gain during pregnancy and parity values in the study group were more than the control group. Birth weights of the babies correlated significantly with gestational age at birth and parity values. Fasting blood glucose levels of the mothers in the macrosomia group were significantly higher than the control group.
Conclusions: Women who gave birth to a macrosomic infant were older, more obese, gained more weight in the pregnancy period, had more parity, delivered at a later gestational age than women who gave birth to a non-macrosomic infant. Birth weight of the baby increases with increasing fasting blood glucose levels, even if the pregnant woman does not have any type of diabetes in pregnancy. The risks of neonatal hypoglycemia and hyperbilirubinemia, and the need for neonatal intensive care unit were more frequent in macrosomic infants.