TABLE 4.
Pregnancy outcomes according to adherence to omnivorous or plant‐based diets.
| Birth outcomes | Omnivorous (n = 65 872) | Vegetarian fish/poultry (n = 666) | Vegetarian lacto/ovo (n = 182) | Vegan (n = 18) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (standard deviation) or % | ||||
| Birthweight, g | 3601 (544) | 3571 (527) | 3617 (499) | 3441 (558) |
| z‐score for birthweight | 0.00 (0.00) | −0.11 (1.01) | 0.07 (0.92) | −0.56 (0.87) |
| Birth length, cm | 52.3 (2.6) | 52.4 (2.4) | 52.5 (2.3) | 52.5 (2.6) |
| Gestational age, days | 280.6 (11.9) | 281.4 (10.9) | 280.3 (10.8) | 285.6 (9.9)2 |
| Low birthweight <2500 g, | ||||
| % [no. cases/N] | 2.5% [1623/65549] | 2.3% [15/662] | 2.3% [4/178] | 11% [2/18]1 |
| Small for gestational age,3 | ||||
| % [no. cases/N] | 9.9% [6502/65549] | 11.9% [79/662] | 7.3% [13/178] | 27.8% [5/18] |
| Male infants, | ||||
| %, [no. cases/N] | 51.3% [33 792/65872] | 51.7% [344/666] | 50.6% [92/182] | 38.9% [7/18] |
| Spontaneous delivery, | ||||
| %, [no. cases/N] | 67.9% [44 421/65422] | 68.2% [451/661] | 68.3% [123/180] | 66.7% [12/18] |
| Induced labor, | ||||
| % [no. cases/N] | 32.1% [20 870/65039] | 7.4% [47/632] | 4.2% [7/167] | 16.7% [3/18] |
| Cesarean section, | ||||
| % [no. cases/N] | 15.3% [9917/65039] | 14.6% [92/632] | 14.4% [24/167] | 5.6% [1/18] |
| Iron deficiency before week 30, | ||||
| % [no. cases/N] | 7.7% [4993/65228] | 12.8% [85/665]2 | 13.8% [25/1841]2 | 5.6% [1/18] |
| GDM, | ||||
| % [no. cases/N] | 0.8% [512/65872] | 0.5% [3/666] | 0.6% [1/182] | 0% [0/18] |
| Preeclampsia, | ||||
| % [no. cases/N] | 2.6% [1680/65872] | 3.0% [20/666] | 2.2% [4/182] | 11.1%1 [2/666] |
Note: 1 P < 0.05, 2 P < 0.01: t‐test for all continuous variables except gestational age (Mann–Whitney test), otherwise Chi‐square test for all dichotomous variables. 3Birthweight >10th percentile for gestational age.