Maternal Obesity’s Impact on the Mother and Neonate

The continued rise in maternal obesity regardless of age or socioeconomic background has become a relentless problem worldwide. More women are obese at their first prenatal visit, then gaining more weight during pregnancy than ever before. Maternal obesity has been shown to compromise not only the health of the mother, but also of the neonate. Pregnant women with co-morbidities who are also obese fair a much greater risk of worsening of their underlying disease while pregnant. Maternal obesity has been noted to increase the inflammatory response of organs such as the placenta with subsequent downstream effects on the fetus. Although there is some literature that currently exists on maternal complications from obesity and to a lesser degree concerning the neonate, infant outcomes associated with maternal obesity remains limited. Long term effects of obesity on mothers and later childhood effects on their offspring are lacking in investigation.

The goal of this Research Topic is to present the available knowledge of the impact of maternal obesity on the health of the mother and infant and showcase original work done in the field to address areas were a paucity of literature continues to exist. We encourage original research articles, large series case reports and systematic reviews that address but not limited to the points noted below:

• How Did We Get Here and Is Maternal Obesity a Modern-Day Problem?

• Maternal Obesity’s Impact: where are we now and what do we know?

• National and Global Health Implications of Maternal Obesity: social determinants of health

• Maternal Obesity’s Impact on the Mother and Pregnancy: maternal co-morbidities, stillbirth

• Placental Effects Due to Maternal Obesity

• Maternal Obesity’s Impact on the Full-term Infant: macrosomia, HIE

• Maternal Obesity’s Impact on the Preterm Infant

• Pre-pregnancy and Pregnancy Monitoring in Obese Women

• Delivery Implications: establishing delivery guidelines, transfer rules

• Delivery Room Management: DR resuscitation, available providers

• Nursery Management: need for NICU admission, breastfeeding consultation

• Later Childhood Effects of Maternal Obesity: long term consequences

• Long Term Effects on Mothers with Maternal Obesity: postpartum weight retention, increasing presence of endocrine and cardiac issues

• Maternal Obesity and the Microbiome