Khaberni - A new Norwegian study warns of an increased risk of death from strokes, heart attacks, and peripheral arterial disease among mothers whose newborns are larger than normal size at birth.
It is known that a small fetal size is associated with complications for the mother, such as preeclampsia, which leads to preterm birth. However, this study also highlights the risks to maternal health from an increased newborn weight.
According to "Medical Xpress," Sig White from the University of Bergen and her colleagues studied both women who gave birth to babies smaller than average and those larger than average.
Low size
White said: "Indeed, it seemed that mothers with pulmonary hypertension tended to have preterm infants of low size, and they showed opposite trends in cardiovascular diseases, according to the newborn's weight at birth and gestational age, compared to any other group."
Increased size of the newborn
She added, explaining: "Mothers who gave birth on time or had normal blood pressure in their first pregnancy had a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, with the increase in the size of the baby."
She continued: "The only exception was mothers with high blood pressure during pregnancy, who faced the highest risk with the birth of a baby larger than average."
Weight increase and risks
According to the findings monitored by White: "The risk is not limited to the heart health of mothers with exceptionally large infants, but it appears to gradually increase, starting from the newborn's weight falling slightly below average."
White pointed out that "mothers with infants large for their gestational age often have underlying risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as gestational diabetes or obesity, making the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases likely."
