Comparative assessment of the health status of large for gestational age newborns

Abstract

Our aim was to conduct a comparative assessment of the health status of large for gestational age (LGA) newborns. 348 full-term neonates who were born at the Republican Scientific and Practical Center “Mother and Child” were examined. The main group 1 (Gr1) consisted of 58 LGA newborns from mothers with diabetes mellitus (DM) type 1, the main group 2 (Gr2) consisted of 66 LGA babies from mothers without carbohydrate and lipid metabolism disorders, the main group 3 (Gr3) included 65 LGA babies from mothers with pregravid overweight or obesity, the control group (Gr4) had 159 newborns with the anthropometric parameters corresponding to the gestational age (AGA) from mothers without carbohydrate and lipid metabolism disorders. The negative impact of the mothers’ metabolic disorders on the newborns’ health status, functional state, and neuropsychological development was established. Babies born with macrosomia from mothers with DM were diagnosed with hypoglycemia, congenital pneumonia, hyperbilirubinemia, and neonatal encephalopathy much more often (p < 0.001). LGA babies from obese women were characterized by polycythemia, hyperbilirubinemia, and neonatal encephalopathy. Polycythemia, hyperbilirubinemia, and toxic erythema were often noted in Gr2 patients. The cases of brachial plexus injuries and limb fractures were not registered. A slower rate of neuropsychological development was noted in large neonates in the analyzed groups, and was more pronounced in infants from mothers with diabetes mellitus and obesity. LGA newborns from mothers with DM had a high hospitalization rate at the intensive care unit, followed by the separation of mother and child and a lower breastfeeding rate in the neonatal period. Large newborns from mothers with DM and from women with obesity had a higher probability of adverse neonatal outcomes and a reduced health status in the neonatal period.