OBSTETRICSAssessing the Accuracy of Pregnant Women in Recalling Pre-Pregnancy Weight and Gestational Weight Gain
Section snippets
INTRODUCTION
In New Brunswick, as in other regions of Canada, pregnant women are often asked for their pre-pregnancy weight and gestational weight gain when they are admitted for delivery. To the best of our knowledge, the validity of this self-reported information has not been assessed in Canada. We hypothesized that the majority of pregnant women do not accurately report their PPW and GWG at the time of delivery. Since this information is used by care providers to assess and anticipate potential for
METHODS
We developed a prospective cohort consisting of all women presenting to Saint John Regional Hospital and The Moncton Hospital for delivery of a term (≥ 37 weeks) pregnancy between June 1, 2011, and July 31, 2011. At the time of admission for delivery, women were asked by the admitting nurse to provide their PPW and GWG. Height and weight were measured by the nurse using a stadiometer and calibrated digital weight scale to determine end-of-pregnancy BMI. The self-reported answers were then
RESULTS
A total of 189 women were included in the cohort and in the analysis. Patient characteristics are described in Table 1. The majority of patients were under 30 years of age and were having their first or second baby. Slightly more than one half (98; 51.9%) had a measured weight recorded before the end of the first trimester (12+6 weeks’ gestation). Gestational age at delivery was 37 to 42 weeks (i.e., at term) in 182 women (96.3%). Women having their second baby were more likely to have a higher
DISCUSSION
This study showed that many women in this New Brunswick cohort self-reported PPW and GWG values that were discrepant from those measured and recorded in their chart when they were asked to report these variables at the time of delivery. We have also confirmed an apparent deficiency in measuring first-trimester weights in these women, as 48.1% of women did not have this value recorded in their chart. We were able to use the recorded first-trimester weight as a surrogate for PPW because
CONCLUSION
The results of our study suggest that, at the time of delivery, women commonly misreport PPW and GWG, a finding that seems to be BMI class dependent. The importance of appropriate gestational weight gain for BMI class and the importance of active living should be discussed with all patients. Pre-pregnancy weight should be measured and recorded, and, if this is not possible, a measured first-trimester weight should be substituted. Gestational weight gain should be meticulously measured and
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2020, American Journal of Obstetrics and GynecologyCitation Excerpt :This form asks the patient to fill in height and prepregnancy weight; using these responses, the provider calculates the body mass index. Patient-reported height and prepregnancy weight are generally valid approximations,14,15 although exceptions may occur.14,16 One item on the USPSTF list that is missing from the patient version of the checklist is “low socioeconomic status.”
The Edmonton Obesity Staging System Predicts Mode of Delivery After Labour Induction
2020, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology CanadaCitation Excerpt :At our centres, a maternal weight is rarely documented in the preconception phase, and as such accurate pre-pregnancy weights are unavailable. Self-reported weights have often been used, but weights, and the degree of obesity, may be underreported, particularly in patients at higher BMI.27–29 As such, we used a measured weight at first antenatal visit.
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2019, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive BiologyCitation Excerpt :The lack of quality data is also because BMI, if recorded, is usually based on self-reported weight and height which has underestimates BMI and miscategorises women using the WHO BMI classification [10,11]. Furthermore, others are based on prepregnancy weight which is poorly standardised and open to recall bias [12]. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to report maternal obesity trends using prospectively measured height and weight at the first antenatal appointment from 2010 to 2017.
Associations between maternal physical activity and fitness during pregnancy and infant birthweight
2018, Preventive Medicine ReportsCitation Excerpt :This non-traditional expression of GWG was used because nearly 40% of the data necessary to provide the standard expression of GWG (weight at delivery - pre-pregnancy weight) was missing. Given the difficulty of women to accurately report their pre-pregnancy weight (Russell et al., 2013) and the assumption that minimal weight is gained in the first trimester (Hytten and Leitch, 1964), we created an additional GWG variable using the objectively-measured weight at 17 weeks and weight at delivery (Weightdelivery − Weight17 weeks). For the significant missing data for ‘weight at delivery’, we performed multiple imputation.
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2019, Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Competing Interests: None declared.