The association of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and increased maternal weight in the third trimester of pregnancy with foetal weight estimation

Poor nutritional status in pregnancy affects foetal growth, which can lead to low birth weight and subsequently have an impact on intergenerational malnutrition. The purpose of our study was to assess the relationship between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and increased maternal weight in the third trimester of pregnancy with foetal weight estimation. We employed an analytical observation study with a cross-sectional design. We used a total sample of all third trimester pregnant women in Tanggulangin Community Health Centre (CHC) in Sidoarjo, East Java, with a total of 349 women being recruited. The data was secondary, obtained from the maternal and child health status book of the study subjects and medical records. The data was analysed using the Spearman correlation test. Most women with normal pre-pregnancy BMI were multiparous. Pre-pregnancy BMI was significantly correlated with the foetal weight estimation. Low pre-pregnancy BMI increases the risk of low foetal weight. However, our study did not find a significant correlation between maternal weight gain during the third trimester and foetal weight estimation. Most of our study subjects had maternal weight gain of approximately 0.3–0.5 kg/week. Improving the nutritional status of women before and during pregnancy is crucial to achieve the recommended foetal weight.