Abstract

Pregnant women who are obese are more likely to have gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, macrosomia, operative vaginal delivery, and cesarean delivery. Obesity also has adverse implications for the neonate. Congenital anomalies are more common in children born to obese women. These include neural tube defects, gastroschisis, cardiovascular anomalies, and others. Although the connection between maternal obesity and chronic health conditions has been described, the mechanism by which this occurs is less well understood. Changes to the epigenetic structure of offspring DNA have been proposed as one such mechanism.

Keywords: DNA methylation, obesity, respiratory distress syndrome, pregnancy, diabetes, maternal, gestational, fetal

How to Cite:

Solheim, K. N., Santillan, D. A., Scroggins, S., Devor, E. J. & Santillan, M. K., (2015) “Global fetal DNA methylation and birth outcomes in obese women”, Proceedings in Obstetrics and Gynecology 4(3), 1–2. doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/2154-4751.1268

Rights: Copyright © 2015 Karla N. Solheim, Donna A. Santillan, Sabrina Scroggins, Eric J. Devor, and Mark K. Santillan