Comparison of development of pre-eclampsia in second and third trimester in obese versus non-obese pregnant women

Aim: To compare the frequency of pre-eclampsia in second and third trimester in obese versus non-obese women. Methods: It was a Cohort study conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur. A total of 62 obese (BMI >30) and 62 non-obese (BMI<30) having, singleton pregnancy were registered for the study at their book visit at ∼14-20 weeks of gestation. Women having family history of obesity and chronic ailments and those with age >35 or parity > 5 were excluded. Chisquare test was applied to determine statistical significance. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Mean age was calculated as 28.12±2.72 in obese and 27.89±2.34 in non-obese group. Parity was 3-4 in 50% (n=31) in obese and 46.8% (n=29) in non-obese group. Development of pre-eclampsia was subsequently observed in 27.4% (n=17) of obese and 9.7%(n=6) of non-obese women. Conclusion: It is concluded that pre-eclampsia develops significantly higher in second and third trimester in obese women as compared to non-obese women as assessed by BMI in early pregnancy.