Maternal growth during pregnancy and decreased infant
birth weight.
Scholl TO, Hediger ML, Ances IG.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of
Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, SOM and Cooper
Hospital/University Medical Center, Camden 08103.
We used stature and measurement of knee height to
measure continued maternal growth during adolescent
pregnancy in a sample of young gravidas (primigravidas
and multiparas) and mature pregnant control subjects.
Growth during pregnancy has been masked by a tendency of
all gravidas to shrink while pregnant (approximately 0.5
cm over 6 mo of observation). Consequently, growth of
many adolescent gravidas has not been clinically
apparent. There was no effect on maternal growth during
a first pregnancy in adolescence but this may be a
result of the relatively good prepregnant nutrition
status of the young gravidas in developed countries.
Maternal growth during pregnancy, however, is associated
with significantly decreased (-282 g, p less than 0.05)
birth weight for infants when maternal growth continues
during a subsequent adolescent pregnancy. This
observation is consistent with the hypothesized
competition between the metabolic demands of the growing
adolescent mother and the nutrient needs of her
developing fetus.
