Neonatal outcomes among obese parturients at the Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence neonatal outcomes among obese parturients at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. It specifically set out to determine whether maternal obesity had an influence on neonatal outcomes and to assess the sociodemographic factors, obstetric characteristics, preexisting medical disorders and obstetric complications that influenced neonatal outcomes. This study was a cross sectional retrospective study which assessed the medical records of 748 mothers who delivered at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra. A data collection checklist was used to collect data. Chisquare tests and odds ratios were used to analyze the data. The main findings were that 28.3% of the parturients were obese. Birth outcome remained statistically associated with maternal BMI. Obese mothers were 40% less likely to have live births compared to those who were nonobese. All the obese mothers had neonates with low Apgar scores after birth. Maternal age, residence and antenatal visits were seen to be significantly associated with birth outcomes. Obese mothers who suffered obstetric complications were at a higher risk of being admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Maternal obesity is associated with higher risks of adverse neonatal outcomes. The results of this study highlight maternal obesity as an important public health concern in our country. More studies with larger sample sizes are required to further augment these results.