The impact of isolated obesity compared with obesity and other risk factors on risk of stillbirth: a retrospective cohort study

CMAJ. 2024 Mar 3;196(8):E250-E259. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.221450.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Maternal obesity is associated with stillbirth, but uncertainty persists around the effects of higher obesity classes. We sought to compare the risk of stillbirth associated with maternal obesity alone versus maternal obesity and additional or undiagnosed factors contributing to high-risk pregnancy.METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Better Outcomes Registry and Network (BORN) for singleton hospital births in Ontario between 2012 and 2018. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression and logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between prepregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) class and stillbirth (reference was normal BMI). We treated maternal characteristics and obstetrical complications as independent covariates. We performed mediator analyses to measure the direct and indirect effects of BMI on stillbirth through major common-pathway complications. We used fully adjusted and partially adjusted models, representing the impact of maternal obesity alone and maternal obesity with other risk factors on stillbirth, respectively.RESULTS: We analyzed data on 681 178 births between 2012 and 2018, of which 1956 were stillbirths. Class I obesity was associated with an increased incidence of stillbirth (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35-1.78). This association was stronger for class III obesity (adjusted HR 1.80, 95% CI 1.44-2...
Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal - Category: General Medicine Authors: Source Type: research