Body composition in term neonates of mothers with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Neonates of gravidas with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are at increased lifelong risk of cardiometabolic complications. Neonatal adiposity measured by body composition (BC) is a better surrogate of nutritional status than birth weight. Data comparing BC in term neonates of hypertensive and normotensive pregnant patients is lacking. Our objective was to compare body composition in both groups of neonates.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study from March 2018 to June 2019 at our tertiary institution where term neonatal BC are routinely measured. Neonates of patients with HDP and matched controls were included. Skin fold thickness (SFT) and percent body fat (PBF) were calculated using a validated anthropometric formula and compared using Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests.

Results: One hundred and forty-two neonates of patients with HDP were compared to 150 controls. Demographic characteristics were similar except for higher pre-pregnancy BMI (29.7 ± 8.4 vs 26.75 ± 7.1, p = <0.01) in the HDP group. SFT was not significantly different (4.6 vs 4.4 mm, p = 0.09) but PBF was higher in the hypertensive group (13.15 vs 11.72, p = 0.01).

Conclusions: PBF is higher in neonates of mothers with HDP, which may contribute to an increased risk of cardiometabolic complications later in life.

Impact: Birth weight percentiles do not explain the predisposition to cardiovascular complications in offspring of hypertensive mothers. Body composition estimation may provide an explanation for this increased risk. Percent body fat is higher in term neonates of mothers with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy than neonates of normotensive mothers. Body composition is different in term neonates of mothers with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.