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The Association between Pregnancy-Related Discomforts and Pre-Pregnancy Body Mass Index in Japanese Women

Saori Morino, Mika Ishihara, Shu Nishiguchi, Naoto Fukutani, Daiki Adachi, Yuto Tashiro, Takayuki Hotta, Minoru Yamada, Mamoru Yamashita and Tomoki Aoyama

Objective: To determine the association between pregnancy-related discomforts and pre-pregnancy body mass index in a longitudinal study.

Methods: The study included 355 pregnant women (age, 31.1 ± 4.1 years). Participants were divided into three groups according to their pre-pregnancy body mass index: the low body mass index group, normal body mass index group, and high body mass index group. The occurrence of pregnancy-related discomforts during the second and third trimesters was investigated. Binomial logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between pre-pregnancy body mass index and pregnancy-related discomforts experienced during the last two trimesters.

Results: The occurrence of most pregnancy-related discomforts increased in the third trimester, while that of constipation and shoulder stiffness or headache decreased. Based on logistic regression analysis, pre-pregnancy body mass index was significantly associated with various discomforts. The occurrence of hip joint or pubis pain (odds ratio/95% confidence interval = 2.38/1.14–4.95) during the second trimester, and sleeping difficulty (2.00/1.09–3.67), hand or finger stiffness (3.00/1.36–6.45), leg cramps (2.29/1.32–3.98), low back pain (2.20/1.29– 3.75), hip joint or pubis pain (2.14/1.23–3.73), and shoulder stiffness or headache (2.01/1.06–3.82) during the third trimester was significantly higher in the high body mass index group than in the normal body mass index group. The low body mass index group exhibited a significantly a higher occurrence of shoulder stiffness or headache (2.84/1.35–5.96) during the second trimester and constipation (2.28/1.08–4.82) during the third trimester than the normal body mass index group.

Conclusion: The occurrence of discomforts decreased or increased during pregnancy. Furthermore, both prepregnancy high and low body mass index represent important risk factors for many pregnancy-related discomforts, compared with a pre-pregnancy normal body mass index.