Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of gestational weight gain (GWG) in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on birth weight of their neonates.Methods SLE women and their neonates were recruited from Renji Hospital. Maternal demographic parameters (age, height, pre-pregnancy body weight, education level, GWG, past disease history, gestational age), clinical parameters at the first check-up (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and triglycerides, fasting blood glucose), and neonatal sex, Apgar Score and birth weight were collected from medical records. Healthy pregnant women and their neonates were matched (1:3) based on age and education level as control. The relationship between GWG and neonatal birth weight was analyzed by the general linear regression.Results A total of 180 women (45 pregnant women with SLE and 135 healthy pregnant women) were included in the current study. The average age and birth weight were 29.0±3.0 years and 3 198.8±501.8 g, respectively. GWG was lower in SLE group than that in control group (12.4±5.5 kg vs 15.0±5.1 kg, P=0.004). The proportion of inadequate GWG in the SLE group was higher than that in the control group (37.8% vs 16.3%, P<0.01). A high GWG was associated with a larger birth weight in all participants. Compared with neonates whose mothers were in the lowest quartile group, neonates whose mothers were in the highest quartile were likely to get an extra birth weight (246.4±234.1g), however, it did not reach a significant difference.Conclusion GWG in SLE women was lower than that of healthy women, which might result in a low birth weight.

Key words: Birth weight, Gestational weight gain, Systemic lupus erythematosus