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More than one third of U.S. women are obese, and many adverse pregnancy outcomes are strongly associated with obesity. However, whether obesity raises risk for congenital anomalies is not clear. Investigators compiled data on maternal body-mass index (BMI) and incidence of major congenital anomalies in 42,000 singleton pregnancies in a university maternal care system during three time intervals: 1991 through 1994, 1995 through 1999, and 2000 through 2004.
Mean maternal weight, BMI, and proportion of women defined as obese rose with each successive time interval. During the entire study period, prevalence of major anomalies increased from 0.43% to 0.84%. Obesity was not independently associated with excess risk for congenital anomalies. Betwe…