Table 2.
Anthropometry and BP in longitudinal cohort study participants at early, mid and late gestation, and postpartum
| Variable | Early gestation (~16 weeks) |
Mid gestation (~28 weeks) |
Late gestation (~36 weeks) |
Postpartum (~3–6 months) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lean | Obese | Lean | Obese | Lean | Obese | Lean | Obese | |
| n | 118 | 190 | 117 | 184 | 115 | 178 | 92 | 95 |
| Gestation (days) | 117 (106–126) |
132*** (119–145) |
199 (197–201) |
194*** (191–199) |
255 (253–257) |
252*** (249–256) |
122 (109–147) |
130 (109–175) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 22.7 (21.4–23.8) |
42.7*** (40.8–44.8) |
25.0a
(23.8–26.3) |
44.0***a
(42.1–46.4) |
26.2b,c
(24.8–27.9) |
45.0***b,c
(43.0–47.5) |
22.5d,e
(21.3–24.1) |
42.9***d,e
(40.3–46.0) |
| Weight (kg) | 63.2 (57.7–67.3) |
115.0*** (108.9–122.1) |
70.0a
(64.4–74.2) |
118.5***a
(112.3–124.4) |
80.0b,c
(67.6–77.7) |
121.0***b,c
(114.4–127.8) |
61.4d,e
(58.3–67.6) |
112.7***d,e
(106.6–122.2) |
| Body fat (%) | 28.7 (25.7–32.7) |
48.8*** (47.2–51.3) |
32.5a
(29.1–35.7) |
49.5*** (47.0–51.2) |
34.7b,c
(30.3–37.4) |
48.9*** (46.6–51.3) |
28.9d,e
(24.8–33.1) |
49.5*** (47.1–51.2) |
| Weight change (from 16 weeks) | 6.2 (4.6–7.8) |
2.9*** (0.7–5.3) |
9.5c
(7.6–12.0) |
5.4*** (2.9–9.4) |
−0.7d,e
(−3.1–2.6) |
0.3 (−4.4–3.5) |
||
| SBP (mmHg) | 105 (100–110) |
118*** (110–124) |
108 (100–113) |
118*** (110–120) |
110b,c
(104–118) |
120***b,c
(110–130) |
108e
(100–112) |
120***e
(110–125) |
| DBP (mmHg) | 60 (60–67) |
70*** (65–75) |
60 (60–68) |
70*** (66–74) |
65b,c
(60–70) |
72***b,c
(70–80) |
65 (60–70) |
70***d,ef
(68–80) |
Data presented as median (IQR)
The independent effects of lean control vs obese status and gestational age, and their interaction, were examined using two-way repeated measures ANOVA on the variables in early, mid and late gestation in all the pregnant mothers and again in early, mid and late gestation and postpartum in the mothers attending the postpartum visit. All two-way repeated measures ANOVA analyses during pregnancy (n = 111 lean, n = 150 obese) and then analyses for all women attending postpartum (n = 85 lean, n = 85 obese) revealed significant differences in lean vs obese status, gestational age and significant interactions between these two variables (all p ≤ 0.01). The exception was the interaction for SBP and DBP in pregnancy and for the pregnancy + postpartum visit (both p > 0.05) (data not displayed)
Post hoc analyses for differences between lean controls vs obese at each time point were performed and differences denoted:
***p < 0.001
Post hoc analyses for differences between time points were done separately in the controls and obese and are denoted:
aMid vs early gestation
bLate vs early gestation
cLate vs mid gestation
dPostpartum vs mid gestation
ePostpartum vs late gestation
fPostpartum vs early gestation
DBP, diastolic BP; SBP, systolic BP