Can Infant Birth Weight Inform Decisions About Postpartum Thromboprophylaxis?

Postpartum women face increased risk for both clotting and bleeding, which complicates decision-making about thromboprophylaxis. To investigate whether infant birth weight is associated with postpartum venous thromboembolism (VTE), researchers conducted a case-control study of term pregnancies with singletons live-born in Washington State between 1987 and 2011 and matched for birth year. Logistic regression was adjusted for maternal age, race, education, smoking, body-mass index, parity, delivery method, gestational length, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia.

Among 547 mothers who experienced VTE within 3 months of delivery compared with 9482 who did not, odds of a high-birth-weight (>4000 g) newborn were marginally higher, but not signi…