Association of pregnancy hypocalcemia and neonatal growth indices

Abstract

Introduction: Hypocalcemia is a common condition in pregnancy. Approximately 20-30 g maternal calcium is actively transferred to the fetus during pregnancy for fetal skeletal mineralization. The aim of this study was to determine the association of pregnancy hypocalcemia with neonatal growth indices. Methods: This cohort study was conducted on 112 pregnant women with the gestational age of 22-26 weeks in 2016. Calcium, albumin, 25(OH)D, and urinary calcium/creatinine ratio were measured for all participants. Hypocalcemia was defined as corrected serum calcium level of 0.05). Furthermore, neonatal growth indices were not significantly different in the maternal calcium quartiles. The two groups showed no significant difference in terms of the adjusted mean of neonatal growth indices (P>0.05). Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, hypocalcemia was a prevalent condition in pregnancy; however, this condition exerted no adverse effects on neonatal growth indices.

Keywords

• hypocalcemia
• pregnancy
• newborn
• growth
• body height
• body weight