The impacts of Obesity on the Obstetrical Patients

Rovena D.

Chamberlain College of Nursing

NR 715: Scientific Underpinnings

January 2022

The impacts of Obesity on the Obstetrical Patients

Obesity is an extremely delicate but very significant concern that affects everyone. The World Health Organization defines obesity as a health risk characterized by an excessive accumulation of fat. WHO identifies obesity based on one’s BMI where a BMI of 30 is classified as being obese (WHO, 2022). Obesity is common especially among women of childbearing age and poses as a great risk among that population. There are several consequences of obesity on pregnancy that are often overlooked by many providers. Maternal obesity presents many risks to both the mother as well as the fetus.

Data from the CDC reported that obesity has increased among pre-pregnant women in the US from 2016 to 2019. Studies assessed women of childbearing ages, with different education levels and women of different race and ethnicity. The report shows that the percentage of obesity went from 18.1% in 2016 to 20.5% in 2019 among women under 20 yrs of age which is an increase of 13%. For woman aged 20 to 29 the increase was from 27.2% in 2016 to 30.4% in 2019 which is a 12 % increase. For women 30 to 39 yrs, the rise was from 25.8% to 28.3% which is a 10% increase and women 40 yrs and older rose 9% from 28.0% in 2016 to 30.4% in 2019. (Driscoll & Gregory, 2020)

Literary Search Strategies

Several databases were used to conduct the search for quantitative literatures. Using the Chamberlain University online library, I performed a scholarly review search for articles for my topic. CINAHL plus was used and the key words obesity, pregnancy and quantitative research were utilized. Filters such as publication timeframe of 2018-2022, English language, research article, as well as peer review were used to make my search more efficient by narrowing down my search results. I also used google scholar where I used the key words obesity and pregnancy.

Critique of Article Using the John Hopkins Appraisal Tool

The John Hopkins Appraisal Tool was used to evaluate the researched article. The article by Masturzo, et al, which was published in 2019 is a single source, nonexperimental quantitative research article. In this study, the authors aimed to investigate the influence of high pre-pregnancy BMI and the possible dangers attributed to the adverse outcomes for maternal and perinatal patients as well as their fetuses in a tertiary care hospital in Sant’Anna, Turin.This involved a “retrospective” design where data was collected during a 4-year period obtained from the hospital’s database and logistic regression models which analyzed the impact of BMI on maternal and fetal outcomes. A statistical method was also used to provide an estimate for the findings on each risk factor.

Based on this appraisal tool, this study design is a level 3 which means that this study is nonexperimental because, there was no manipulation of an independent variable, there wasn’t a control group used and the participants were not randomly assigned to any interventions. This article is of good quality of this study.

Summary

Conclusion

References

Catalano, P.M., & Koutrouvelis, G.O. (2021). Obesity in Pregnancy. American College of

Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 137 (6) 128-143. Obesity in Pregnancy (acog.org) (Links to an external site.)Masturzo B., Franzè V., Germano C., Attini R., Gennarelli G., Antonella L., Rolfo A., Plazzotta C., Brunelli E., Youssef A., Todros T., Farina A. Risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes by pre- pregnancy Body Mass Index among Italian population: a retrospective population-based cohort study on 27,807 deliveries. Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics. (2019) Apr;299(4):983-991. doi: 10.1007/s00404-019-050930

https://chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=c8h&AN=135556049&site=ehost-live&scope=site (Links to an external site.)Center for Disease Control. (2022, January 20) Pregnancy complications. Retrieved from Pregnancy Complications | Maternal and Infant Health | CDCThe U.S. Burden of Disease Collaborators. (2018). The state of U.S. health, 1990-2016 burden of diseases, injuries and risk factors among U.S. states. JAMA, 319 (14), 1444-1472. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.0158World Health Organization. (2022, January 21) Obesity. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesityDriscoll, A. & Gregory, E. (2020) Increases in Prepregnancy Obesity: United States, 2016–2019. NCHS Data Brief. No 392. NCHS Data Brief, Number 392, November 2020 (cdc.gov)Appendix