Relación entre los valores de hemoglobina materna en el primer trimestre del embarazo y recién nacidos pequeños para la edad gestacional

Objective

To evaluate maternal hemoglobin (Hb) levels in the first trimester of pregnancy in patients with a history of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants and to compare these levels with those in a control group with appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants in order to determine the influence of Hb levels on intrauterine fetal growth.

Material and methods

From January 1999 to July 2001, 2973 live newborns were studied, of which 85 were SGA. Of these, only 52 met the inclusion criteria. First-trimester maternal Hb levels were compared between the mothers of the 52 SGA infants and 104 controls with AGE infants. A casecontrol study was performed with a ratio of 1:2. AGE was defined according to Argentinian intrauterine growth curves.

Results

The prevalence of SGA was 2.86% (95% CI: 0.27%-5.45%). Hb levels were compared between the two groups. The percentage of Hb values lower than 13 mg was higher in cases than in controls (67.3% vs 58.7%, respectively) but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0,29; 95% CI: 0.68%-3.10%). Maternal age and prematurity did not appear to influence intrauterine fetal growth.

Conclusion

In our population, maternal Hb levels did not significantly affect intrauterine fetal growth.