Size for gestational age at birth according to offspring sex and gestational weight gain in underweight women

Although maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) are related to fetal growth, there is a paucity of data regarding how offspring sex affects the relationship between maternal BMI in underweight mothers (pre-pregnancy BMI <18.5 kg/m²) and size for gestational age at birth. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of offspring sex on the relationships among maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, GWG and size for gestational age at birth in Japanese underweight mothers. Records of women with full-term pregnancies who underwent perinatal care at Kawasaki Municipal Hospital (Kawasaki, Japan) between January 2013 and December 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The study cohort included underweight (n=566) and normal-weight women (18.5 kg/m² ≤ pre-pregnancy BMI<25 kg/m²; n=2671). The incidence of small for gestational age (SGA) births in the underweight group was significantly higher than that in the normal-weight group (P<0.01). Additionally, SGA incidence in the underweight group was significantly higher than that in the normal-weight group (P<0.01) in female, but not male (P=0.30) neonates. In the women with female neonates, pre-pregnancy underweight was associated with a significantly increased probability of SGA (odds ratio [OR]: 1.80; P<0.01), but inadequate GWG was not (OR: 1.38; P=0.11). In contrast, in women with male neonates, inadequate GWG was associated with a significantly increased probability of SGA (OR: 1.53; P=0.03), but not with pre-pregnancy underweight (OR: 1.30; P=0.10). In conclusion, the present results suggest that pre-pregnancy underweight is associated with SGA in female offspring but not in male offspring.