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BACKGROUND: Maternal obesity has been implicated in the origins of childhood obesity through a suboptimal environment in-utero.OBJECTIVE: We examined relationships of maternal early pregnancy body mass index (BMI), overweight/obesity, and plasma biomarkers of obesity, inflammation, insulin resistance, and placental function with measures of childhood BMI and adiposity.METHODS: BMI z-score, sum of skinfold thicknesses (SST), body fat percentage (BFP, by bioelectrical impedance), and waist, arm, and hip circumferences were measured in 1173 6-year-old children of nulliparous pregnant women in the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study, New Zealand. Relationships of maternal early pregnancy (15 weeks' gestation) BMI and biomarkers with these childhood anthropometric measures were assessed by linear regression, with appropriate adjustment.RESULTS: 28.1% of mothers were classified as overweight and 10.1% with obesity; compared with normal weight mothers, the BFP of their children were 5.3% higher (0.16 SD [95% CI, 0.04-0.29] p = .01) and 7.8% higher (0.27 [0.08-0.47] p = .006) with comparable values for BMI z-score and arm, waist, and hip circumferences. Early pregnancy maternal BMI and plasma placental growth factor (PlGF) were associated with higher child's SST, BMI z-score, hip circumference, and BFP. None of the metabolic or inflammatory maternal biomarkers were associated with childhood obesity.CONCLUSION: In this contemporary large prospective cohort study with extensive maternal/childhood phenotyping and a high prevalence of maternal overweight/obesity, we found independent relationships of maternal early pregnancy BMI with childhood BMI and adiposity; similar associations were observed with PlGF, which may imply a role for placenta function in the developmental programming of childhood obesity risk.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the test performance of 47 biomarkers and ultrasound parameters to predict subsequent delivery of an SGA infant and adverse perinatal outcome in women presenting with suspected preeclampsia.METHODS: In a prospective, multicentre observational study, 47 biomarkers and ultrasound parameters were measured in 397 women presenting with suspected preterm preeclampsia, with the objective of evaluating them as predictors of subsequent delivery of an SGA infant and adverse perinatal outcome. Factor analysis and stepwise logistic regression were performed in two pre-specified groups.RESULTS: In 274 women presenting at 20(+0) to 34(+6) weeks' gestation (Group 1), 96 (35%) delivered an SGA infant CONCLUSIONS: In women presenting with suspected preterm preeclampsia, measurement of PlGF offers a useful adjunct for identifying those at high risk of delivering an SGA infant, allowing appropriate surveillance and timely intervention.

OBJECTIVE: Most small for gestational age pregnancies are unrecognised before birth, resulting in substantial avoidable perinatal mortality and morbidity. Our objective was to develop multivariable prediction models for small for gestational age combining clinical risk factors and biomarkers at 15±1 weeks' with ultrasound parameters at 20±1 weeks' gestation.METHODS: Data from 5606 participants in the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) cohort study were divided into Training (n = 3735) and Validation datasets (n = 1871). The primary outcomes were All-SGA (small for gestational age with birthweight RESULTS: 633 (11.2%) infants were All-SGA, 465(8.2%) Normotensive-SGA and 168 (3%) Hypertensive-SGA. Area under the curve (95% Confidence Intervals) for All-SGA using 15±1 weeks' clinical variables, 15±1 weeks' clinical+ biomarker variables and clinical + biomarkers + biometry /Doppler at 20±1 weeks' were: 0.63 (0.59-0.67), 0.64 (0.60-0.68) and 0.69 (0.66-0.73) respectively in the Validation dataset; Normotensive-SGA results were similar: 0.61 (0.57-0.66), 0.61 (0.56-0.66) and 0.68 (0.64-0.73) with small increases in performance in the Training datasets. Area under the curve (95% Confidence Intervals) for Hypertensive-SGA were: 0.76 (0.70-0.82), 0.80 (0.75-0.86) and 0.84 (0.78-0.89) with minimal change in the Training datasets.CONCLUSION: Models for prediction of small for gestational age, which combine biomarkers, clinical and ultrasound data from a cohort of low-risk nulliparous women achieved modest performance. Incorporation of biomarkers into the models resulted in no improvement in performance of prediction of All-SGA and Normotensive-SGA but a small improvement in prediction of Hypertensive-SGA. Our models currently have insufficient reliability for application in clinical practice however, they have potential utility in two-staged screening tests which include third trimester biomarkers and or fetal biometry.