BACKGROUND Currently one-fifth of women in the UK are obese. Obese, pregnant woman are at an increased risk of experiencing complications of labour and serious morbidity. However, they are also more likely to undergo medical interventions such as induction of labour and caesarean section which in themselves confer additional health risks for obese women such as wound infection and deep vein thr...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this nested cohort study was to compare the rate of pre-pregnancy supplementation in obese women with that of women with a normal BMI. METHODS Pregnant women were enrolled at their convenience in a large university hospital. Weight and height were measured in the first trimester and BMI categorised. RESULTS Of the 288 women, 35.1% were in the normal, 29.5% in the ov...

The objective of this study was to investigate whether pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal outcome among obese pregnant women who took part in an intervention study for weight restriction differed from a group of obese pregnant women attending regular antenatal care. The intervention group consisted of 155 obese pregnant women and 193 obese pregnant women who formed a control group. We found that...

High fat meals induce oxidative stress, which is associated with the pathogenesis of disease. Obese individuals have elevated resting biomarkers of oxidative stress compared to non-obese. We compared blood oxidative stress biomarkers in obese (n = 14; 30 +/- 2 years; BMI 35 +/- 1 kg x m(-2)) and non-obese (n = 16; 24 +/- 2 years; BMI 23 +/- 1 kg x m(-2)) women, in response to a high fat meal. B...

BACKGROUND Neutrophil elastase level/activity is elevated in a variety of diseases such as atherosclerosis, systolic hypertension and obstructive pulmonary disease. It is unknown whether obese individuals with prehypertension also have elevated neutrophil elastase, and if so, whether it has a deleterious effect on pulmonary function. OBJECTIVES To determine neutrophil elastase levels in obese...

OBJECTIVE To compare the incidence of antenatal and intrapartum complications and neonatal outcomes among pre-pregnant obese women. METHODS At the Sud-Reunion Hospital's maternity, Reunion Islands, France, over a 54-month period, each obese pregnant woman (BMI > or = 30 kg/m2) delivering a singleton after 22-weeks gestation was compared to the next age and parity-matched woman of normal pre-p...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence and risk of antenatal and postpartum mental disorders among obese and overweight women. DATA SOURCES Seven databases (including MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov) were searched from inception to January 7, 2013, in addition to citation tracking, hand searches, and expert recommendations. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION Studies were eligible if antenatal or postp...

OBJECTIVES The World Health Organization estimated that in 2011 worldwide 1.6 billion adults were overweight, and 400 million were obese. The obesity epidemic is a documented phenomenon and Oman is no exception. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of obesity on pregnancy and its prenatal and neonatal outcomes. METHODS A prospective cohort study was carried out among pregnant Oma...

OBJECTIVE To assess plasma renin and aldosterone levels in obese and non-obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS Obese women (body mass index [BMI]>30 kg/m2; group A, n=34) and non-obese women (BMI<25 kg/m2; group B, n=13) with PCOS were selected. The control group (groupC, n =47) consisted of age-matched women with regular menses and normal ultrasonographic ovaries. Lutein...