Purpose: To examine an association between gestational weight gain (GWG), defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines, and surgical site infections in obese women.
Methods: This was a retrospective study of all obese women with singleton pregnancies undergoing cesarean delivery at ≥ 23 weeks' gestation between January 2012 and June 2018. Women were categorized according to GWG: below, within, and above the IOM guidelines. Our primary outcome was a composite of surgical site infections. Coarsened Exact Matching with k-to-k solution was performed using predefined variables.
Results: Of 2376 obese women, 429 (18.1%), 449 (18.9%), and 1498 (63.0%) had GWG below, within, and above the IOM guidelines, respectively. After matching, there was no difference in a rate of the primary outcome between women with GWG below the IOM guidelines and those with GWG within the IOM guidelines (6.7% [20/300] vs 4.3% [13/300]; P = .21). Similarly, there was no difference in the rate of the primary outcome between women with GWG above the IOM guidelines and those with GWG within the IOM guidelines (5.7% [24/421] vs 5.2% [22/421]; P = .76).
Conclusion: Among obese women, GWG was not associated with surgical site infections.
Keywords: Cesarean delivery; Gestational weight gain; Obesity surgical site infections.