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The association of pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity with delivery outcomes: a comparison of immigrant and non-immigrant women in Berlin, Germany

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

To analyse the influence of maternal overweight/obesity on delivery outcomes among first- and second-generation immigrant women and non-immigrant women.

Methods

We used perinatal data from Berlin/Germany (n = 1987 first generation, n = 687 second generation, n = 2185 non-immigrants; gestational age: 24+ weeks; maternal age: 18+ years). Poisson models were fitted to estimate the effect of pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity (categorised according to WHO) on mode of delivery (vaginal vs. emergency caesarean section (ECS)) and labour onset (spontaneous vs. induced).

Results

First generation, second generation and non-immigrant women were more likely to have their labour induced when obese [first generation: RR = 1.41 (95 % CI: 1.15–1.72); second generation: RR = 1.51 (95 % CI: 1.14–2.00); non-immigrants: RR = 1.53 (95 % CI: 1.28–1.81)] compared to normal weight. There were also indications of obese women being more likely to deliver by ECS than women of normal weight, irrespective of migrant status.

Conclusions

An elevated RR for obese and in parts for overweight women of labour induction and ECS pertains irrespective of migrant status. This warrants further research looking into pathophysiological in addition to health-system factors. Weight control interventions addressed at overweight/obese women planning pregnancies are urgently needed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and International Public Health, Bielefeld School of Public Health (BiSPH), Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Katharina Reiss, Jürgen Breckenkamp & Oliver Razum

  2. Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin, University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, Germany

    Theda Borde

  3. Department of Gynecology, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Silke Brenne, Wolfgang Henrich & Matthias David

Authors
  1. Katharina Reiss
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  2. Jürgen Breckenkamp
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  3. Theda Borde
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  4. Silke Brenne
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  5. Wolfgang Henrich
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  6. Matthias David
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  7. Oliver Razum
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jürgen Breckenkamp.

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Ethical standards

The Charité Ethics Committee, Berlin, approved the study on Feb 18, 2009, reference EA1/235/08. Data protection regulations were observed in the survey and in the linkage to hospital data.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Reiss, K., Breckenkamp, J., Borde, T. et al. The association of pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity with delivery outcomes: a comparison of immigrant and non-immigrant women in Berlin, Germany. Int J Public Health 61, 455–463 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0825-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0825-9

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