Birth Weights in Sickle Cell Disease Pregnancies: A Cohort Study

PLoS One. 2016 Oct 24;11(10):e0165238. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165238. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Pregnancy in women with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) has been linked with an increased incidence of adverse foetal outcomes when compared to women without haemoglobinopathies (HbAA). There's a paucity of data into foetal outcomes for infants born to women with SCD. Customised growth charts have been demonstrated to be better than population-based growth charts at identifying unhealthy small babies. We analysed the mean birth weight and customised birth weight centiles of infants born to mothers with SCD versus mothers with HbAA genotype, to quantify the risk of having a smaller baby. Birth weight and birth weight centiles were analysed for 88 women with SCD (50 HbSS; 38 HbSC) and 176 controls (HbAA). Statistically significant differences were seen in the mean birth weight (P value = 0.004) and the mean birth weight centiles (P value = 0.016). We conclude that SCD is a risk factor for having a smaller baby.

MeSH terms

  • Anemia, Sickle Cell / complications*
  • Birth Weight*
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications / physiopathology*
  • Retrospective Studies

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.