In 2017, researchers found that among women without chronic disease, maternal obesity was associated with preterm delivery and those risks differed by gestational age at delivery, preterm category, and parity, indicating that maternal weight likely influences indicated preterm delivery outside of the underlying chronic conditions that tend to co-occur with obesity. Furthermore, by examining gestational age at delivery in detail, they were able to provide a more comprehensive overview of variations in risk for both spontaneous and indicated preterm delivery. (Kim SS et al. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2016). Gestational and pregestational diabetes complicate up to 9% and 1% of pregnancies in the United States, respectively. Researchers found that these complications were associated with increased risk of neonatal respiratory morbidity, regardless of the probability to deliver at term (Kawakita T et al. Amer J Perinatol 2017). Researchers also added to the understanding of the direct effects of placental abruption on neonatal morbidities in a study which determined that placental abruption is associated with increased risk of a number of neonatal morbidities, including stillbirth and neonatal mortality, and these associations persisted even after conditioning on gestational age at delivery and birthweight (Downes et al. Am J Epidemiol 2017). A systematic review on this same subject concluded that abruption is associated with a number of adverse outcomes for both mother and child (Downes et al. Amer J Perinatol 2017). Another area of research explored in 2017 was the relationship between racial disparities and neonatal morbidities and mortality in preterm births. Researchers found that risk of neonatal mortality was similar across racial ethnic groups, however, black infants were at significantly higher risk of adverse neonatal morbidities and perinatal death relative to white infants. This finding challenged the notion that black neonates have a survival advantage in the context of preterm birth and emphasized the need to understand underlying mechanisms responsible for racial/ethnic differences in risk of neonatal morbidities (Wallace et al, Am J Obstet Gynecol 2017. Collectively, this body of research continues to provide data useful for the ongoing development of clinical guidance regarding the management of contemporary pregnant women. The data is publicly available via the NICHD DASH website, https://dash.nichd.nih.gov/.
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