Articles

The association between gestational weight gain z-score and stillbirth: a case-control study

Pickens, Cassandra M.; Hogue, Carol J.; Howards, Penelope P.; Kramer, Michael R.; Badell, Martina L.; Dudley, Donald J.; Silver, Robert M.; Goldenberg, Robert L.; Pinar, Halit; Saade, George R.; Varner, Michael W.; Stoll, Barbara J.

Background
There is limited information on potentially modifiable risk factors for stillbirth, such as gestational weight gain (GWG). Our purpose was to explore the association between GWG and stillbirth using the GWG z−score.


Methods
We analyzed 479 stillbirths and 1601 live births from the Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network case−control study. Women with triplets or monochorionic twins were excluded from analysis. We evaluated the association between GWG z−score (modeled as a restricted cubic spline with knots at the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles) and stillbirth using multivariable logistic regression with generalized estimating equations, adjusting for pre − pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and other confounders. In addition, we conducted analyses stratified by pre − pregnancy BMI category (normal weight, overweight, obese).


Results
Mean GWG was 18.95 (SD 17.6) lb. among mothers of stillbirths and 30.89 (SD 13.3) lb. among mothers of live births; mean GWG z−score was − 0.39 (SD 1.5) among mothers of cases and − 0.17 (SD 0.9) among control mothers. In adjusted analyses, the odds of stillbirth were elevated for women with very low GWG z−scores (e.g., adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) for z−score − 1.5 SD versus 0 SD: 1.52 (1.30, 1.78); aOR (95% CI) for z−score − 2.5 SD versus 0 SD: 2.36 (1.74, 3.20)). Results differed slightly by pre − pregnancy BMI. The odds of stillbirth were slightly elevated among women with overweight BMI and GWG z−scores ≥1 SD (e.g., aOR (95% CI) for z−score of 1.5 SD versus 0 SD: 1.84 (0.97, 3.50)).


Conclusions
GWG z−scores below − 1.5 SD are associated with increased odds of stillbirth.

Files

  • thumnail for 12884_2019_Article_2595.pdf 12884_2019_Article_2595.pdf application/pdf 770 KB Download File

Also Published In

Title
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2595-x

More About This Work

Published Here
December 20, 2022

Notes

Fetal death, Gestational weight gain, Obesity, Stillbirth