No additional effect to infant birthweight if both parents are obese to
that of one: retrospective analysis of 1479 singleton term births
following assisted reproductive treatment
Abstract
Objective: To determine the combined effects of maternal and paternal
preconception overweight and obesity on infant birthweight. Design:
Retrospective data analysis, fresh cycles (2009-2017), Repromed, South
Australia. Setting: Assisted Reproductive Technology. Population:
Couples undergoing either in vitro fertilisation or intracytoplasmic
sperm injection with their own gametes and transfer of a single
blastocyst (N=1479). Methods: Maternal and paternal BMI were recorded
prior to cycle initiation. Infant birthweight was recorded at delivery.
The impact of paternal and maternal overweight and obesity and their
interaction on infant birthweight was assessed using quantile
regressions constructed at 5th, 10th, 50th, 90th and 95th birthweight
percentiles based on Australian standards. Main Outcome Measures: First,
singleton, term birth (≥ 37 weeks’ gestation) birthweight. Results:
There was weak evidence for an interaction between parental BMI for
median birth weight (β=-0.98; 95%CI=[-1.90, -0.05], p=0.04) with
infants having increasing birth weight with increasing parental BMI,
when one parent has normal weight. When either parent is overweight or
obese, although birth weights are higher (maternal β=15.9;
95%CI=[1.63, 30.1], p=0.03; paternal β=7.33; 95%CI=[0.297,
14.4] p=0.04), they are not associated with increasing BMI of the
other parent. Conclusions: Both maternal and paternal overweight and
obesity at conception independently increase median infant birthweight.
These findings necessitate the need for a family centered approach for
preconception counselling on healthy BMI prior to pregnancy. Further
studies are warranted in other ART or general population cohorts to
support or refute our findings. Funding: NOM is the recipient of an
NHMRC Early Career Fellowship.