Maternal and Fetal Outcomes in Underweight Pregnant Women | ||||
| Al-Azhar International Medical Journal | ||||
| Volume 2025, Issue 3, March 2025, Page 231-235 PDF (283.37 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: https://doi.org/10.21608/aimj.2025.446493 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Ahmed Abd El-Hameed Ahmed1; Ahmed Hashem Mohammed 2; Hager Ashraf Khalifa* 2
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| 1Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assuit, Egypt. | ||||
| 2Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assuit, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Maternal underweight prior to pregnancy is a well-established risk factor for negative neonatal findings, particularly low birthweight. In a randomized trial from Bangladesh, providing micronutrient and caloric supplementation to women with a low body mass index led to a reduced offspring fatality rate at birth. Aim: To assess the impact of maternal underweight on the pregnancy outcome on both the mother and the fetus. Methods: This retrospective cohort research has been performed on 72 underweight pregnant women with clinical criteria of body mass index (BMI) below 18.5 who presented for antenatal care, delivery, abortion, or any other complication of pregnancy. Results: The mean BMI at admission was 17.6 ± 0.779. Regarding the pregnancy outcome, only 36% of the cases ended with a normal outcome, while 30.6% had PTL, 23.6% ended with abortion, 5.6% with IUFD, and 4.2% with stillbirths. The vast majority of cases had a normal maternal outcome (80.6%). 4.2% of the cases had severe anemia, 2.8% had either PET, PTL, gestational DM, or DM, and 1.4% had either UTI, recurrent infection, or emesis gravidarum. Regarding the fetal outcome, more than half of the cases were normal, while one-fifth of the cases developed fetal morbidity (15 cases) and another-fifth developed fetal mortality (another 15 cases). 38.9% of the study cases needed NICU admission. Conclusions: Maternal underweight produced adverse outcomes for both the mother and the fetus. Many of the cases ended up with abnormal outcomes such as stillbirth, IUFD, PTL, and abortion. One-fifth of the neonates developed fetal morbidity, and one-fifth developed fetal mortality. About 38.9% of neonates needed ICU admission. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Maternal; Fetal Outcomes; Underweight Pregnant Women | ||||
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