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Pregnancy Body Mass Index and its relationship with Maternal and Fetal Health Outcomes in Rural Appalachia

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82 pages

Title
  • Pregnancy Body Mass Index and its relationship with Maternal and Fetal Health Outcomes in Rural Appalachia
Date modified
  • 08/21/2025
Creator
Abstract
  • Increased weight gain or obesity in pregnancy has been identified as a risk factor for multiple adverse maternal and child health outcomes that are of large public health concern. Maternal obesity can also complicate obstetric care by preventing identification of ultrasound markers or decreasing available fetal cell-free DNA fraction for routine genetics studies. The study analyzes the pregnancy, birth, and early childhood data from women and children in the COHRA2 study to assess maternal body mass index and its associations with pregnancy risk factors and childhood health outcomes in this population. We found that women and children in our sample were similar to the United States population in the prevalence of obesity during pregnancy and prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus as a pregnancy complication. We observed a low overall frequency of congenital birth defects, and no significant difference in frequency between infants born to obese versus nonobese mothers. Additionally, we were able to replicate findings from studies in other populations, identifying that there was a higher rate of Cesarean delivery for women who gave birth to macrosomic (>4000 grams) infants, and that children who were macrosomic at birth were more likely to be obese in childhood and were younger at the time of their first tooth eruption, illustrating that obesity is a risk factor for adverse childhood outcomes even past the neonatal period. Lastly, we found significant differences between the Pittsburgh and West Virginia participants in our study, demonstrating that urban and rural populations have significant sociodemographic differences (particularly in rates of obesity, frequency of Cesarean delivery, and time to first tooth eruption) that are important considerations when developing public health interventions.
Administrative Note
Date created
Identifier
Keyword
Language
Resource type
Degree discipline
  • Genetic Counseling
Degree grantor
  • University of Pittsburgh
Degree level
  • Masters
Degree name
  • Master of Science
Rights statement

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Winter, Lauren. Pregnancy Body Mass Index and Its Relationship with Maternal and Fetal Health Outcomes In Rural Appalachia. . 2020. d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/f0e2f1f4-aa61-4914-b474-cccb7d704bee.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

W. Lauren. (2020). Pregnancy Body Mass Index and its relationship with Maternal and Fetal Health Outcomes in Rural Appalachia. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/f0e2f1f4-aa61-4914-b474-cccb7d704bee

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Winter, Lauren. Pregnancy Body Mass Index and Its Relationship with Maternal and Fetal Health Outcomes In Rural Appalachia. 2020. https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/concern/etds/f0e2f1f4-aa61-4914-b474-cccb7d704bee.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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