PLoS ONE (Jan 2024)

Cohort profile: Life-course experiences and pregnancy (LEAP)-A retrospective pregnancy cohort for life-course reproductive health research.

  • Susan M Mason,
  • Kriszta Farkas,
  • Jessica K Friedman,
  • Anne Gerlach,
  • Sydney T Johnson,
  • Rebecca Emery Tavernier,
  • Lisa M Bodnar,
  • Dianne Neumark-Sztainer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295825
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 3
p. e0295825

Abstract

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BackgroundLife course factors may be associated with pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain; however, collecting information on pre-pregnancy exposures and pregnancy health in the same cohort is challenging.ObjectivesThe Life-course Experiences And Pregnancy (LEAP) study aims to identify adolescent and young adult risk factors for pre-pregnancy weight and gestational weight gain (GWG). We built upon an existing cohort study to overcome challenges inherent to studying life course determinants of pregnancy health.PopulationParticipants in an ongoing prospective cohort study of weight-related health who identified as women.DesignRetrospective cohort study.MethodsIn 2019-2020, 1,252 women participating since adolescence in a cohort study of weight-related health were invited to complete an online reproductive history survey. Participants who reported a live birth were invited to release their prenatal, delivery, and postpartum medical records for validation of survey reports. Descriptive analyses were conducted to assess the characteristics of the overall cohort and the medical record validation subsample, and to describe adolescent and young adult characteristics of those with high (>80th percentile), moderate (20th-80th percentile), and low (Preliminary resultsNine hundred seventy-seven women (78%) completed the LEAP survey and 656 reported a live birth. Of these, 379 (58%) agreed to release medical records, and 250 records were abstracted (66% of the 379). Of the 977 survey respondents 769 (79%) reported attempting a pregnancy, and 656 (67%) reported at least one live birth. The validation subsample was similar to the overall cohort. Women with a high GWG had a higher adolescent BMI percentile and prevalence of unhealthy weight control behaviors than those with moderate or low GWG.ConclusionsLEAP offers a valuable resource for identifying life course factors that may influence the health of pregnant people and their offspring.