Investigating the relationship between the serum fat level of pregnant mothers and the birth weight of the fetus: a brief report

birth weight is associated with neonatal mortality and morbidity .In recent studies, fetal growth is related to the risk of developing type two diabetes and cardiovascular disease in later life. The mother’s nutrition and metabolism are major determinants of fetal growth. Some complications of low birth weight are hypocalcemia, hypoglycemia, intrauterine death. Any substance or hormone that can cross the placenta may affect the fetal growth and birth weight, including the maternal lipid during pregnancy. The effect of gestational diabetes mellitus on neonatal birth weight has been documented. Lipids and amino acids usually are not considered in the clinical management of pregnancy because there is less known about the role of these nutrients in the well-being of the pregnancy. This study aimed to determine the relationship between levels of serum lipids in pregnancy and fetal birth weight.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 170 pregnant women referred to Kerman medical university clinics in Iran from March 2019 to April 2020. After explaining the objectives of the study and gaining informed consent from the individuals, the maternal lipid profile during the first trimester of pregnancy, was measured within the first visit through a sample taken from the maternal blood. Pregnant women were monitored during pregnancy, and the variables were measured (Age, BMI, weight, frequency of pregnancy, weight gain in pregnancy, lipid and blood glucose profiles). The results of the samples were analyzed using SPSS software, version 20 (IBM SPSS, Armonk, NY, USA).

The results indicated that the newborn weight increases with an increment in the maternal blood cholesterol (P=0.001) and triglyceride (P=0.001) levels. In addition, it was found that the increasing HDL (P=0.867) and LDL (P=0.803) levels of the pregnant women’s blood, does not lead to the birth weight increase of the infants.

Results of our study generally indicate that triglyceride and cholesterol levels are related to fetal birth weight. Studies with high sample sizes are recommended to investigate all neonatal weight gain variables.