Fig. 2

Mean maternal plasma lipids at enrolment, 20 and 30 weeks gestation by LBW and SGA status. Mean maternal lipids were compared by Student’s t-test with Welch correction for unequal sample size between low birth weight (LBW) (< 2.5 kg) and normal birth weight infant (NBW) (≥2.5 kg) and between small-for-gestational-age (SGA) (<10th percentile INTERGROWTH-21ST for birth weight) and adequate-for-gestational-age (AGA) (≥10th percentile INTERGROWTH-21ST for birth weight) infants. Mean total cholesterol (TC) levels were significantly lower at 20 weeks gestation in women with LBW infants compared to women with NBW infants (P = 0.048). Women with SGA infants had at 30 weeks gestation lower mean low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) (P = 0.033) and triglycerides (TG) (P = 0.048) levels compared to women with AGA infants. Mean (SD) gestational age at enrolment was 13.9 (3.3) weeks gestation