Gestational weight gain (GWG) is usually defined as a change in maternal weights measured before pregnancy and prior to delivery, which is crucial to fetal growth and subsequent breastfeeding. Both excessive and inadequate GWG affect maternal and offspring health. Gestational weight gain is related to the risk of pregnancy complications, maternal postpartum weight retention, and obesity in offspring. it reflects multiple characteristics, including maternal fat accumulation, fluid expansion, and the growth of the fetus, placenta, and uterus. Based on a simple axiom: “what is the optimal gestational weight (optGWG) in women to achieve in term pregnancies the natural rate of 10% of SGA (small for gestational age) as well as 10% of LGA (Large for gestational age) in newborns”, we have found in our population that it is a mathematical linear equation: opGWG (kg) = -1.2 ppBMI (Kg/m²) + 42 ± 2 kg.
As a matter of fact, when we plot on a graph maternal pre- pregnancy BMI (ppBMI), and the babies’ percentiles, 10% SGA- LGA 10% is materialized by a crossing point. The fact that this 10% corresponds to a given maternal BMI category suggests that there is a biological maternal-fetal connection. We proposed to call this crossing point the Maternal-Fetal Corpulence Symbiosis (MFCS).
Author(s) Details:
Pierre-Yves Robillard,
Service de Néonatologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sud Réunion, Saint-Pierre Cedex, La Réunion, France and Centre d’Etudes Périnatales Océan Indien (CEPOI), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sud Réunion, Saint-Pierre Cedex, La Réunion, France.
Gustaaf Dekker,
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Adelaide, Robinson Institute, Lyell McEwin Hospital, Australia.
Malik Boukerrou,
Centre d’Etudes Périnatales Océan Indien (CEPOI), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sud Réunion, Saint-Pierre Cedex, La Réunion, France and Service de Gynécologie et Obstétrique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sud Réunion, BP 350, 97448 Saint-Pierre Cedex, La Réunion, France.
Brahim Boumahni,
Service de Neonatologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sud Reunion, Saint-Pierre Cedex, La Reunion, France.
Thomas C Hulsey,
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown WV, USA.
Marco Scioscia,
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Policlinico of Abano Terme, Abano Terme (PD), Italy.
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