The New “Obstetrical Dilemma”: Stunting, Obesity and the Risk of Obstructed Labour

This article explores how the double burden of malnutrition and the global obesity epidemic may be reshaping the obstetrical dilemma. First, short maternal stature increases the risk of obstructed labour, while early age at marriage also risks pregnancy before pelvic growth is completed. Second, maternal obesity increases the risk of macrosomic offspring. In some populations, short maternal stature may also promote the risk of gestational diabetes, another risk factor for macrosomic offspring. These nutritional influences are furthermore sensitive to social values relating to issues such as maternal and child nutrition, gender inequality and age at marriage. Secular trends in maternal obesity are substantially greater than those in adult stature, especially in low‐ and middle‐income countries. The association between the dual burden of malnutrition and the obstetrical dilemma is therefore expected to increase, because the obesity epidemic is emerging faster than stunting is being resolved. However, we currently lack objective population‐specific data on the association between maternal obesity and birth injuries. Anat Rec, 300:716–731, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Source: The Anatomical Record Part A: Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Tags: Special Issue Article Source Type: research