High BMI linked to birth problems

Overweight women are more prone to lengthier pregnancies and complications during birth, a new study has suggested.

Researchers analysed the data of more than 100,000 women who gave birth between 1998 and 2002 to see what effect a high Body Mass Index (BMI) had on their pregnancy.

About 6.8% of the pregnancies were delivered "postdate" - after more than 42 weeks.

The team found that a higher BMI during the first trimester was associated with longer gestation.

A change in BMI between the first and third trimesters was also linked with lengthier pregnancies and an increased risk of complications.

A team including Dr Fiona Denison from Edinburgh University's Queen's Medical Research Institute analysed data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register.

The study concluded: "Maternal obesity poses a significant risk to maternal and foetal health during pregnancy, and our study confirms the findings of others that obesity is associated with significant complications including stillbirth, gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced hypertension and Caesarean section."

Around 60 000 pregnant women will deliver after 40 weeks each year in the UK.

Compared with babies delivered at term, those delivered late are more likely to be hospitalised during the first three years of life and are at greater risk of developing conditions including epilepsy and Asperger's syndrome in later life, the study said.

The report is published in the May edition of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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