Frequency of fetal macrosomia and the associated risk factors in pregnancies without gestational diabetes mellitus

INTRODUCTION: There has been an increased incidence of macrosomic newborns in the world and most of the macrosomic newborns are born from non-GDM pregnant women. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and the associated risk factors of fetal macrosomia in non-GDM pregnant women. METHODS: A total 4246 consequtive pregnant women who had no GDM was included the study population. Data was collected from hospital database of Balikesir State Hospital between January 2014 and January 2015. Statistical analysis was carried out using the independent samples t-test and chi-squared test. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationships between associated risk factors and the presence of fetal macrosomia. In this analysis, fetal macrosomia was taken as the dependent variable and associated risk factors were taken as independent variables. Results are shown as odds ratios (ORs) (95% CI) in the logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: 366 of the 4246 pregnant women were diagnosed with fetal macrosomia (8.6%). Compared the control women, a statistically significant correlation between fetal macrosomia and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain (GWG), parity, advanced maternal age, and male fetal sex was found. Maternal BMI, and GWG were the two risk factors most strongly associated with macrosomia. CONCLUSION: The prevalance of fetal macrosomia is rising among Turkish women. High pre-pregnancy BMI and GWG represent main modifiable risk factors for macrosomia and need more attention from health care providers.