Validity of Birth Certificate-derived Maternal Weight Data

Overview

Journal Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol

Specialties Gynecology & Obstetrics
Pediatrics
Public Health

Date 2014 Mar 29

PMID 24673550

Citations 55

Authors

Lisa M Bodnar

Barbara Abrams

Marnie Bertolet

Alison D Gernand

Sara M Parisi

Katherine P Himes

Timothy L Lash

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Studies using vital records-based maternal weight data have become more common, but the validity of these data is uncertain.

Methods: We evaluated the accuracy of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) reported on birth certificates using medical record data in 1204 births at a teaching hospital in Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2010. Deliveries at this hospital were representative of births statewide with respect to BMI, GWG, race/ethnicity, and preterm birth. Forty-eight strata were created by simultaneous stratification on prepregnancy BMI (underweight, normal weight/overweight, obese class 1, obese classes 2 and 3), GWG (<20th, 20-80th, >80th percentile), race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black), and gestational age (term, preterm).

Results: The agreement of birth certificate-derived prepregnancy BMI category with medical record BMI category was highest in the normal weight/overweight and obese class 2 and 3 groups. Agreement varied from 52% to 100% across racial/ethnic and gestational age strata. GWG category from the birth registry agreed with medical records for 41-83% of deliveries, and agreement tended to be the poorest for very low and very high GWG. The misclassification of GWG was driven by errors in reported prepregnancy weight rather than maternal weight at delivery, and its magnitude depended on prepregnancy BMI category and gestational age at delivery.

Conclusions: Maternal weight data, particularly at the extremes, are poorly reported on birth certificates. Investigators should devote resources to well-designed validation studies, the results of which can be used to adjust for measurement errors by bias analysis.

Citing Articles

Gestational weight gain and increased risk of cesarean delivery across body mass index categories.

McElfish P, Ayers B, Hawley N, Caldwell A, Porter A, Macechko M AJOG Glob Rep. 2025; 5(1):100445.

PMID: 40027475 PMC: 11869019. DOI: 10.1016/j.xagr.2025.100445.

Association of Prepregnancy Cardiometabolic Factors With Gestational Diabetes Among Asian Populations in the United States.

Boyer T, Hsueh C, Sun K, Kwapong Y, Vaught A, Echouffo Tcheugui J JACC Asia. 2024; 4(11):842-852.

PMID: 39619403 PMC: 11604471. DOI: 10.1016/j.jacasi.2024.07.010.

Obesity, Twin Pregnancy, and the Role of Assisted Reproductive Technology.

Bone J, Joseph K, Magee L, Wang L, John S, Bedaiwy M JAMA Netw Open. 2024; 7(1):e2350934.

PMID: 38194230 PMC: 10777255. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.50934.

Non-linear associations of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index with risk of stillbirth, infant, and neonatal mortality in over 28 million births in the USA: a retrospective cohort study.

Thornton H, Cornish R, Lawlor D EClinicalMedicine. 2023; 66:102351.

PMID: 38125933 PMC: 10730341. DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102351.

Misclassification of firearm-related violent crime in criminal legal system records: challenges and opportunities.

Schleimer J, Mustafa A, Ross R, Bowen A, Gallagher A, Bowen D Inj Epidemiol. 2023; 10(1):46.

PMID: 37784128 PMC: 10544360. DOI: 10.1186/s40621-023-00458-1.

References

Tomeo C, Rich-Edwards J, Michels K, Berkey C, Hunter D, Frazier A . Reproducibility and validity of maternal recall of pregnancy-related events. Epidemiology. 1999; 10(6):774-7. View

Lash T . Heuristic thinking and inference from observational epidemiology. Epidemiology. 2006; 18(1):67-72. DOI: 10.1097/01.ede.0000249522.75868.16. View

Holcroft C, Spiegelman D . Design of validation studies for estimating the odds ratio of exposure-disease relationships when exposure is misclassified. Biometrics. 2001; 55(4):1193-201. DOI: 10.1111/j.0006-341x.1999.01193.x. View

Buescher P, Taylor K, Davis M, Bowling J . The quality of the new birth certificate data: a validation study in North Carolina. Am J Public Health. 1993; 83(8):1163-5. PMC: 1695166. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.83.8.1163. View

Bodnar L, Siega-Riz A, Simhan H, Himes K, Abrams B . Severe obesity, gestational weight gain, and adverse birth outcomes. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010; 91(6):1642-8. PMC: 2869513. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.29008. View

Aliyu M, Luke S, Wilson R, Saidu R, Alio A, Salihu H . Obesity in older mothers, gestational weight gain, and risk estimates for preterm phenotypes. Maturitas. 2010; 66(1):88-93. DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2010.02.016. View

Mann J, McDermott S, Hardin J, Pan C, Zhang Z . Pre-pregnancy body mass index, weight change during pregnancy, and risk of intellectual disability in children. BJOG. 2012; 120(3):309-19. DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.12052. View

Schieve L, Perry G, Cogswell M, Scanion K, Rosenberg D, Carmichael S . Validity of self-reported pregnancy delivery weight: an analysis of the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. NMIHS Collaborative Working Group. Am J Epidemiol. 1999; 150(9):947-56. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a010103. View

Hutcheon J, Platt R, Abrams B, Himes K, Simhan H, Bodnar L . A weight-gain-for-gestational-age z score chart for the assessment of maternal weight gain in pregnancy. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013; 97(5):1062-7. PMC: 3625243. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.112.051706. View

10.

Lederman S, Paxton A . Maternal reporting of prepregnancy weight and birth outcome: consistency and completeness compared with the clinical record. Matern Child Health J. 2000; 2(2):123-6. DOI: 10.1023/a:1022996924094. View

11.

. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 107: Induction of labor. Obstet Gynecol. 2009; 114(2 Pt 1):386-397. DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181b48ef5. View

12.

McClure C, Bodnar L, Ness R, Catov J . Accuracy of maternal recall of gestational weight gain 4 to 12 years after delivery. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010; 19(5):1047-53. PMC: 3123900. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2010.300. View

13.

Bodnar L, Hutcheon J, Platt R, Himes K, Simhan H, Abrams B . Should gestational weight gain recommendations be tailored by maternal characteristics?. Am J Epidemiol. 2011; 174(2):136-46. PMC: 3167680. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwr064. View

14.

Park S, Sappenfield W, Bish C, Bensyl D, Goodman D, Menges J . Reliability and validity of birth certificate prepregnancy weight and height among women enrolled in prenatal WIC program: Florida, 2005. Matern Child Health J. 2009; 15(7):851-9. DOI: 10.1007/s10995-009-0544-4. View

15.

Mandujano A, Huston-Presley L, Waters T, Catalano P . Women's reported weight: is there a discrepancy?. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2011; 25(8):1395-8. DOI: 10.3109/14767058.2011.636099. View

16.

Phelan S, Phipps M, Abrams B, Darroch F, Schaffner A, Wing R . Randomized trial of a behavioral intervention to prevent excessive gestational weight gain: the Fit for Delivery Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011; 93(4):772-9. PMC: 3057546. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.110.005306. View

17.

MacLehose R, Gustafson P . Is probabilistic bias analysis approximately Bayesian?. Epidemiology. 2011; 23(1):151-8. PMC: 3257063. DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0b013e31823b539c. View

18.

Reichman N, Hade E . Validation of birth certificate data. A study of women in New Jersey's HealthStart program. Ann Epidemiol. 2001; 11(3):186-93. DOI: 10.1016/s1047-2797(00)00209-x. View

19.

Bodnar L, Siega-Riz A, Simhan H, Diesel J, Abrams B . The impact of exposure misclassification on associations between prepregnancy BMI and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010; 18(11):2184-90. PMC: 2888636. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2010.25. View

20.

Salihu H, Alio A, Wilson R, Sharma P, Kirby R, Alexander G . Obesity and extreme obesity: new insights into the black-white disparity in neonatal mortality. Obstet Gynecol. 2008; 111(6):1410-6. DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e318173ecd4. View