Obese mothers should gain little or no weight during pregnancy.(Tips from Other Journals)

Publication: American Family Physician

Publication Date: 15-MAY-08

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COPYRIGHT 2008 American Academy of Family Physicians

Background: Too little or too much weight gain during pregnancy is associated with adverse fetal outcomes. In general, mothers are advised to gain at least 15 lb (6.8 kg). Current guidelines provide an optimal range of weight gain based on maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), but do not specify an upper limit of weight gain for obese mothers (i.e., those with a BMI of 30 kg per [m.sup.2] or greater). Kiel and colleagues used an obstetric database from a large state to study the relationship of weight gain and pregnancy outcomes in obese women.

The Study: The study included all singleton deliveries after 37 weeks' gestation between 1990 and 2001 in which the...

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