Andreas Andersen - Postdoctoral Fellowship 2023

Project summary:
Steno baby heart

We hypothesise that in women with overweight or obesity, a tailored, intensive, and multifactorial lifestyle intervention before and during pregnancy increases global longitudinal strain in their offspring compared to standard of care. Women included will be randomised to the intervention or standard of care and cardiac structure and function in the offspring will be evaluated by echocardiography.

Project Title

Steno baby heart

Background

Maternal obesity before conception and a maternal weight gain above the recommended during pregnancy are closely linked to neonatal adiposity and changes in cardiac structure and function. Foetal altered cardiac structure and function with increased septum thickness and decreased systolic function can be detected as early as 14 weeks of gestation and may persist to the age of one year. Whether life-style intervention before pregnancy may ameliorate these changes remains unelucidated.

Aim

Primary aim of the STENO BABY-HEART trial is to investigate the effect on neonatal cardiac structure and function at birth of a tailored, intensive, multifactorial lifestyle intervention in women with overweight or obesity before and during pregnancy, compared to standard medical and obstetrical care.

Preliminary results

At present, 94 of 360 planned women are included and randomised in the trial, and the first offspring are expected in September 2023.

Design

Randomised, parallel-group, single-centre, intervention study comparing a tailored, intensive, multifactorial lifestyle intervention before and during pregnancy in women with overweight or obesity with standard of care.