Trial lecture – time and place
See trial lecture
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Nils-Halvdan Morken, University of Bergen
- Second opponent: Consultant Jens Langhoff-Roos, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen
- Chair of the committee: Professor Marit Lieng, University of Oslo
Chair of defence
Professor Torbjørn Omland, University of Oslo
Principal supervisor
Professor Anne Eskild, University of Oslo
Summary
Fetal growth is dependent on oxygen and nutrients that are transferred from the mother by the placenta. Placental weight is an indicator of placental function. Johanne Dypvik has explored how placental weight may be associated with diabetes, preeclampsia and infant death. Data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway were used in all three studies.
We found that placental weight was higher in preeclamptic pregnancies with diabetes and lower in preeclamptic pregnancies without diabetes than in non-preeclamptic pregnancies. Hence, it is possible that the biological mechanisms that cause preeclampsia may differ between women with diabetes and women without diabetes.
Prediction of the women who will develop preeclampsia in a second pregnancy may be difficult. We found that low placental weight in the first pregnancy increased the risk of preeclampsia in the second pregnancy. Additionally, high placental weight in the first pregnancy increased the risk of developing term preeclampsia in the second pregnancy in women without previous preeclampsia. Information about placental weight in the first pregnancy may therefore contribute to identify women at increased risk of developing preeclampsia in the second pregnancy.
Low placental weight seemed to increase the risk of infant death independent of gestational age at birth. However, the results differed for infants born in gestational weeks 29-32. In these infants, high placental weight doubled the risk of infant death. Information about placental weight could help in the identification of infants at increased risk of infant death.
Additional information
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