Background: The stillbirth rate in the United Kingdom (UK) is approximately 3.5-4 per 1000 births. The country has one of the highest stillbirth rates in Europe, constituting a substantial portion of the UK perinatal death rate, which was estimated in 2013 at 6.7 deaths per 1000 births.
Aim: To analyse the risk of stillbirth in pregnant women with and without increased BMI in the United Kingdom (UK).
Design and setting: Retrospective study based on Disease Analyzer database (IMS Health).
Method: A total of 44,060 pregnant women with or without an increased BMI who gave birth to a single child were examined using a Disease Analyzer database that included 102 general practices. Selected patients were observed for a period of at least 10 months between January 1994 and December 2013. Standard BMI ranges were considered: 18.5-24.9 (normal weight), 25-29.9 (overweight), 30-39.9 (class I and class II obese), 40-49.9 (class III) and over 50 (class IV). Multivariate logistic models were used to estimate the relationship between increasing BMI and the rate of stillbirth adjusted for demographic data and co-morbidities.
Results: BMI increase was associated with an increase in stillbirth OR, from 1.37 (95% CI: 1.02-1.85) in the overweight group to 5.04 (95% CI: 1.79-14.07) in the group of pregnant women with a BMI higher than or equal to 50.
Conclusions: Pregnant women with obesity and even moderate overweight exhibit an increased risk of stillbirth in UK primary care practices over 20 years.
Keywords: BMI; Obesity; Overweight; Pregnant women; Stillbirth.
Copyright © 2015 Asia Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.