| Learning Objective #1: Describe the pattern of maternal weight change during antepartum hospital bed rest | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Discuss the relationship between maternal weight change during antepartum bed rest and infant birth weight |
Objective: To assess maternal weight change (loss) during antepartum hospitalization for bed rest treatment and determine whether weight change predicts infant birth weight. Design: Longitudinal, repeated measures. Population, Sample, Setting, Years: The population is pregnant women treated with antepartum hospital bed rest. The sample was 141 high-risk women with a singleton gestation in three tertiary care centers in the Midwest. Women’s diagnoses were either preterm labor or preterm labor with another diagnosis. Women with preexisting medical disorders were excluded. Years of study were 1996-2001. Concepts Studied: In non-pregnant populations bed rest produces adverse effects, including weight loss. Outcome measures were weekly rate of maternal weight change by Body Mass Index (BMI) and infant birth weight. Methods: Weekly maternal weight change by BMI across hospitalization (18.1 ± 13.7 (SD) days) was compared with Institute of Medicine recommendations for pregnancy weight gain. Infant birth weights were compared with controls from newly analyzed US statistics for infant birth weights matched for gestational age, gender, and race. Findings: The weekly rate of maternal weight gain in all BMI groups was lower than Institute of Medicine recommendations. The majority (75 percent) either lost or gained no weight during the first week and 52 percent gained no weight across hospitalization. For each race and gender, gestational age specific infant birth weights were significantly lower than the mean for the national referent group (P = < .001). Maternal weight change predicted infant birth weight. Conclusion: Antepartum bed rest is not effective for improving maternal weight gain or infant birth weight during a high risk pregnancy. Lower infant birth weights across all gestational ages suggests that maternal bed rest and poor weight gain may be associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction. Implication: The clinical practice of prescribing bed rest should be critically reevaluated.
Back to Women's Health
Back to 14th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003