Women who put on a lot of weight during pregnancy may be placing their baby at risk of becoming overweight or obese, according to new findings.
This is the finding from a recent study based at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in California, USA. Dr Teresa Hillier and her team looked at figures from 41,540 pregnancies, and found that at least one in five women gained more than 40 pounds – the maximum recommended weight gain.
This "excessive" gain nearly doubled the chance of the baby weighing nine pounds or more from 12 per cent to 20 per cent. It also increased the risk of birth complications and of the baby being overweight or obese in later childhood or adulthood.
In the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the team report that women who gained more than 40 pounds and had gestational diabetes were at greatest risk. Nearly 30 per cent of this group had heavy babies.
Dr Hillier said: "Too many women gain too much weight during pregnancy. This extra weight puts them at higher risk for having heavy babies. A big baby poses serious risks for both mom and baby at birth – for mothers, vaginal tearing, bleeding, and often C-sections, and for the babies, stuck shoulders and broken collar bones.
"The take-home message is that all pregnant women need to watch their weight gain, and it is especially important for women who have risk factors like gestational diabetes."
Co-author Dr Kim Vesco added: "This is one more good reason to counsel women to gain the ideal amount of weight when they are pregnant. From a practical standpoint, women who gain too much weight during pregnancy can have a very difficult time losing the weight after the baby is born."
Hillier, T. et al. Excess gestational weight gain: modifying fetal macrosomia risk associated with maternal glucose. Obstetrics & Gynecology, Vol. 112, November 1, 2008.
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