ABSTRACT
Introduction: Obesity among fertile women is reachingepidemic proportions. Mothers who are overweight or obeseduring pregnancy and childbirth are known to be at risk ofsignificant antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum and neonatalcomplications. So the aim of the current study was to evaluatethe effect of obesity on the maternal and perinatal outcomesin pregnancies complicated by obesity.Material and methods: A Prospective case-control study wasconducted in a civil hospital, Aizawl, from July 2017 to June2018 for a period of 1 year. The sample size of 150 subjectsof which, 77 pregnant women with BMI >30kg/m2 wereconsidered as cases and 73 pregnant women with BMI <30kg/m2 were controls and followed prospectively. Antepartum,intrapartum and postpartum complications were recorded.IBM SPSS version 22 was used for statistical analysis.Results: The mean age was 23±3.53 among controls and it was25±4.44 among cases. A statistically significant associationwas observed with socioeconomic status (0.033), inducedlabour (0.035) and prolonged hospital stay (0.004) indicatingthat maternal obesity is a major risk factor for antepartum,intrapartum and postpartum complications. An increased riskof hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetesmellitus (GDM), pre-eclampsia, induction of labour, caesareansection, postpartum complications like wound infection,atonic PPH (post-partum haemorrhage), the longer lengthof maternal stay in hospital and preterm birth were observedamong obese subjects.Conclusion: Pregnancy complications related to maternalBMI is a growing problem. Maternal obesity is a risk factor forgestational diabetes, preeclampsia, labor induction, cesareanfor fetal distress and wound infection.