Study of placental weight in normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies and its correlation with birth weight

Background: Placenta reflects the well being of the fetus and continuously undergoes a change in weight and function, to support the development of the fetus. The aim of this study was to assess and correlate the weight of placenta and fetal birth weight in normotensive and hypertensive pregnancies. Materials and Methods: Fifty placenta each of normotensive and pre-eclamptic pregnancies were studied (n=100). After delivery, weight of placenta and fetal weight was recorded using weighing machine. Results: In this study, 68.19% cases of low birth weight babies were found in pre-eclamptic group. Mean placental weight was 454.24 ± 47.52 grams and mean fetal weight was 2633.6 ± 302.2 grams in normal group. Whereas, in pre-eclamptic group, mean placental weight was 406.32 ± 59.33 grams and mean fetal weight was 2435.2 ± 280.56 grams. Mean placental and fetal weight were significantly lower in pre-eclamptic group, whereas, feto-placental weight ratio was significantly higher in pre-eclamptic group. A significant positive correlation was found between placental and fetal birth weight (r = 0.975, p<0.0001) in normal and (r = 0.971, p<0.0001) in pre-eclamptic group. Conclusion: Pre-eclamptic pregnancies significantly reduce placental weight. These changes may be due to placental insufficiencies as a result of compromised uteroplacental blood flow in pre-eclamptic pregnancies. The present study shows a strong positive correlation between placental and fetal weight. So, the knowledge of this correlation will be tremendously useful in the early assessment of placental insufficiencies and also the state of fetal well being.