Is Maternal Short Stature an OB Risk Factor?

The average height for men in the U.S. is about 5 feet 9 inches. For women, it’s about 5 feet 4 inches. Height stature has been correlated with some interesting health conditions at a population level: Some research shows that a below-average height may mean you have lower odds of getting some types of cancer. For example, a study of more than 100,000 women in Europe and North America showed that shorter women are less likely to get ovarian cancer. Also, although researchers can’t explain why, studies show that the shorter you are, the less likely you are to have a VTE. People who are 5 feet or shorter have the lowest chances of getting one. Those are good correlations to being short! BUT, short stature has also been linked to higher stroke risk, coronary heart disease, and diabetes. It is theorized that individuals at/around the 5 foot mark- outside of simple race/genetics- may have been imprinted for smaller growth trajectories either in utero or in early childhood which metabolically predisposes them to these future issues. What about short stature and pregnancy? Are there any correlations there? Is maternal short stature an independent OB risk factor for negative outcomes? And why do we only have ONE main EFW chart (Hadlock) in pregnancy vs population specific ones? We’ll get to the tall and short of it…in this episode.