Low birthweight: high adult blood pressure warning
Babies born with very low birthweight can have significantly higher blood pressure in early adulthood than babies born of normal weight, according to a study being presented at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) 5th Annual Congress in Canberra this week.
Study author, Professor Lex Doyle, of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, said adults born in the 1920s and 1930s of low birthweight had higher rates of hypertension and related disorders in their later years.
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He said, however, few babies who were born with a birthweight lower than 1500g actually survived before the 1970s.
"The study looked at 154 very low birthweight babies and 37 normal birthweight babies born between 1977 and 1982," Professor Doyle said.
"Blood pressure was measured and compared, showing that it was significantly higher in the low birthweight survivors.
"More research is needed into this area because at the moment we are not certain at what age we can detect differences in blood pressure amongst people who were born with a low birthweight. We are not too sure what it means in the long term either."
Professor Doyle is presenting the study at the PSANZ Congress this Friday 16 March at 1pm EST.
The Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand is an organisation of healthcare professionals dedicated to the care of mother and baby during pregnancy, birth and early childhood.