We congratulate Cheney and colleagues1 for throwing light on the contributions of overweight and obesity on adverse birth outcomes by analysing data from a teaching hospital in central Sydney.1 Around 16% of the women presenting between 2010 and 2014 were overweight, while 7% were obese. Furthermore, despite obesity being an important risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes, their study showed a lack of recording of body mass index (BMI) in patients’ records.
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- 1. Cheney K, Farber R, Barratt AL, et al. Population attributable fractions of perinatal outcomes for nulliparous women associated with overweight and obesity, 1990–2014. Med J Aust 2018; 208: 119-125. <MJA full text>
- 2. Thrift AP, Callaway LK. The effect of obesity on pregnancy outcomes among Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous women. Med J Aust 2014; 201: 592-595. <MJA full text>
- 3. Gibson-Helm M, Bailie J, Matthews V, et al. Priority evidence-practice gaps in maternal health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: final report. Brisbane: Menzies School of Health Research; 2016.
- 4. Gibson-Helm ME, Rumbold AR, Teede HJ, et al. Improving the provision of pregnancy care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women: a continuous quality improvement initiative. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2016; 16: 118.
- 5. Gibson-Helm ME, Bailie J, Matthews V, et al. Identifying evidence-practice gaps and strategies for improvement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal health care. PLoS One 2018; 13: e0192262.
The National Health and Medical Research Council funded the Centre of Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement (Grant ID #1078927). We thank the founding members and new partners and collaborators of the Centre of Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement in Indigenous Primary Health Care for their support, enthusiasm and commitment in the preparation of this manuscript.
No relevant disclosures.