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Taller women experience lower rates of preterm birth (PTB) in twin pregnancies, as indicated by a retrospective study on 886 women, with those under 163 cm having a 40% higher risk of cesarean delivery and a 1.7 times higher risk of delivering significantly low-weight newborns, emphasizing the importance of considering maternal height in managing twin pregnancies.
The following is a summary of “Higher risk of preterm twin delivery among shorter nulliparous women,” published in the January 2024 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology by Simões, et al.
To see if a woman’s height affects her pregnancy outcomes in twin pregnancies who have never been pregnant before. For a study, researchers sought to look back at twin pregnancies that were tracked at Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Central from 1995 to 2020. Out of the 2,900 pregnancies tracked during that time, 886 women who had never been pregnant and had twins were chosen. There were two groups looked at: A – mother’s height <163 cm (<Q2) (n = 436) and B – mother’s height ≥167 cm (≥Q3) (n = 234). There was a comparison of the following results: Age, body mass index (BMI), early contractions, PAD, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, gestational age at birth, delivery <28, <32, ~34, <36, ≥37 weeks (wks), average newborn weight, very low birth weight, low birth weight, rate of cesarean section, stillbirths, five-minute Apgar score, neonatal death, and perinatal death.
As mothers got taller, the rate of PTB went down. The comparison between groups A and B showed no statistically significant changes in the mothers’ age, BMI, or how they got pregnant (naturally or through ART). The mean gestational age at birth was 35.1 ± 1.8 weeks compared to 36.0 ± 2.6 weeks. The PTB rates were < 32, 34, and 36 weeks, with odds ratios of 3.2, 2.3, and 2.4, respectively, P < 0.01. There was a 1.7 times higher risk of a newborn being significantly low (<2,500 g) and a 2.6 times higher risk of a newborn being very low (<1,500 g).
There was also a 40% higher risk of a cesarean delivery for shorter women. There were not any big changes found in the few cases of stillbirths, newborn deaths, and prenatal deaths that happened in this study. They found the same PTB rates and baby birthweights in shorter women who were pregnant with ART. A Logistic Regression study found that a mother’s height <Q2 is a separate risk factor for PTB before 32, 34, and 36 weeks (adjusted OR: 2.0, 2.2, and 2.4, respectively, 95% CI 1.1–3.7, P = 0.021). In double embryo transfers, shorter women who have never been pregnant should be taken into account because they have a higher chance of getting pregnant.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468784723001617