Objective: To investigate the relationship between maternal obesity and perinatal and neonatal outcomes in primigravid pregnant women.

Methods: A total of 162 primigravid pregnant women were categorized into four groups based on their body mass index (BMI), age, gravida (number of pregnancies), parity (number of births), gestational week, pre-pregnancy body weight, height, prenatal final body weight, delivery patterns and indications, pre-eclampsia, fetuses small for gestational age (SGA), hemoglobin values at the time of hospitalization and after 24 h of delivery, transfusional requirements, birth weight of the babies, neonatal intensive care need, and the babies’ 1st-5th min APGAR scores were compared among the groups.

Results: No significant differences were noted among the BMI groups in terms of age, gestational age, delivery type, neonatal intensive care unit needs, and transfusional requirements. The weights of the babies, weight gain during the pregnancy, incidence of pre-eclampsia, incidence of SGA, and APGAR scores were found to be statistically significantly different among the groups.

Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate that maternal obesity is an important factor for increasing risk of pregnancy complications and neonatal morbidity.