Maternal birth weight in relation to plasma lipid concentrations in early pregnancy

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which, if at all, maternal weight at birth is related to dyslipidemia during early pregnancy, which is a risk factor for preeclampsia. This hospital-based prospective cohort study included 1000 women who initiated prenatal care before 16 weeks of gestation. Participants provided information about their birth weight and other sociodemographic and reproductive covariates. Plasma triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and total cholesterol concentrations were measured at approximately 13 weeks of gestation. β coefficients and standard errors were estimated by multiple linear regression; odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated by logistic regression. Maternal birth weight was correlated negatively with triglycerides ( r = −0.12; P = .001) and was correlated positively with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( r = 0.08; p = .02) but not statistically significantly related with total cholesterol ( r = −0.004; P = .91). After adjusting for potential confounders, women who weighed