Maternal Birth Weight From Maternal and Child Health Handbooks Predicts LGA Neonates Better Than Maternal Parameters in Pregnancy.

Abstract

Objective: This study is aimed at evaluating maternal birth weight, recorded in Japan's Maternal and Child Health Handbooks, as a predictor for large for gestational age (LGA) neonates compared to traditional pregnancy factors. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed maternal and neonatal data from 374 singleton, full-term pregnancies at Keiju General Hospital (2017-2020). Maternal birth weight was obtained from Japan's Maternal Child Health Handbooks, and fasting plasma glucose was measured during the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Logistic regression models assessed the predictive contributions of maternal birth weight and fasting plasma glucose, adjusted for maternal and pregnancy factors. Results: Among 374 patients, 9.8% of neonates were classified as LGA. This group had a higher proportion of a family history of diabetes (p = 0.04) and greater maternal height (p = 0.01), pre-pregnancy weight (p = 0.004), weight before delivery (p = 0.03), and maternal birth weight (p = 0.001) than the non-LGA group. Multivariate analysis showed that maternal birth weight remained a significant predictor of neonatal birth weight after adjusting for other risk factors (odds ratios: 2.92 for maternal birth weight between 3500 and 3999 g and 4.77 for birth weight ≥ 4000 g). Conclusion: This study suggests the potential of incorporating maternal birth weight to improve LGA risk prediction. These findings provide foundational data for further research into the integration of maternal birth weight in risk assessment models and its potential clinical applications.