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Purpose: Mothers who deliver a low-birth-weight (LBW) infant may themselves be at excess risk for cardiovascular disease. We investigated whether older women who bore LBW infants had higher blood pressure, lipid, glucose, insulin, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein concentrations, and pulse wave velocity compared to women with normal-weight births., Methods: Participants were 446 women with a mean age of 80 years and 47% black. Women reported birth weight and complications for each pregnancy. Analysis was limited to first births not complicated by hypertension or preeclampsia., Results: Women who had delivered a first-birth infant weighing less than 2500 g had a lower body mass index (BMI) compared with women with a normal-weight (>or=2500 g) infant (26.7 versus 28.4 kg/m2; p=0.02), but they had a larger abdominal circumference for BMI (97.9 versus 95.5 cm; p=0.05). They also were marginally more likely to be administered antihypertensive medication (p=0.06). After adjustment for BMI, race, and age, women with a history of a small infant had elevations in systolic blood pressure (p=0.05) and greater IL-6 levels (p=0.02) and were more insulin resistant (p=0.05) compared with women with a normal-weight infant., Conclusions: These findings suggest that a history of LBW delivery identifies women with elevated cardiovascular risk factors.

Purpose: We assessed the accuracy and reliability of maternal recall of infant birth weight 35 to 70 years after delivery. Methods: A total of 120 well functioning women (mean age 80 years; 45% Black) reported the birth weight for each live birth and then provided documentation of birth weights (n = 22) or reported birth weights a second time (n = 98). Results: Agreement between recalled and documented birth weights was high for first births (ICC = 0.96) but moderate for subsequent births (ICC = 0.59). Maternal recall was highly reliable for first births (r = 0.95) and subsequent births (r = 0.87), and reliability remained high when considered separately by race, education, income, and age. Conclusion: Women report accurate and reliable infant birth-weight data an average of 57 years after delivery, and recall is particularly precise for first births. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]