The risk of recurrent small-for-gestational-age infants at term is dependent on the number of previously affected births

Abstract

Background: Small-for-gestational-age infants are at a substantially increased risk of perinatal complications, but the risk of recurrent small-for-gestational-age is not well known, particularly because there are many demographic and obstetrical factors that interact and modify this risk. We investigated the relationship between previous small-for-gestational-age births and the risk of recurrence at term in a large Australian cohort.

Objective: We aimed to identify key demographic and obstetrical variables that influence the risk of recurrence of a small-for-gestational-age infant at term. The primary outcome measure was the odds of recurrence of small-for-gestational-age in subsequent pregnancies up to a maximum of 4 consecutive term births.

Study design: This was a retrospective analysis of women who had more than 1 consecutive nonanomalous, singleton, term live births between July 1997 and September 2018 at the Mater Mother's Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Women with multiple pregnancy, preterm birth, or major congenital malformations were excluded. Small-for-gestational-age was defined as birthweight at the <10th centile. We calculated the odds of recurrence depending on the number of previous small-for-gestational-age infants and if only the preceding infant was small-for-gestational-age. The study population was dichotomized into small-for-gestational-age and non-small-for-gestational-age for each consecutive pregnancy. Univariate analyses compared baseline demographic and obstetrical characteristics followed by logistic regression modeling to determine the odds of recurrence in the second, third, and fourth pregnancies.

Results: The final study comprised 24,819 women. The proportion of women who had a small-for-gestational-age infant in their first pregnancy was 9.4%, whereas the proportion of women who had a small-for-gestational-age infant in their second, third, and fourth pregnancies after the birth of a previous small-for-gestational-age infant were 20.5% (479 of 2338), 24.6% (63 of 256), and 30.4% (14 of 46), respectively. Regardless of parity, the odds of recurrence increased if the preceding infant was small-for-gestational-age. The odds of recurrence increased markedly if there was more than 1 previous small-for-gestational-age infant. In women with 3 previous small-for-gestational-age infants, the adjusted odds of another small-for-gestational-age infant were 66.00 (95% confidence interval, 11.35-383.76). Maternal age, body mass index, ethnicity, and smoking were significant risk factors for recurrent small-for-gestational-age. However, maternal diabetes mellitus or hypertension, either in a previous or current pregnancy, did not influence the risk of recurrence.

Conclusion: The risk of recurrence in a subsequent pregnancy increased if there was a previous small-for-gestational-age birth. Women with consecutive small-for-gestational-age infants were at the highest risk of recurrence. Our results highlight that women with a previous small-for-gestational-age infant are at a substantial risk of another small infant and need to be counseled and monitored appropriately.

Keywords: fetal growth restriction; fetus; perinatal outcome; recurrence risk; small-for-gestational-age; term gestation.