Stay Trim for Baby

By Kathryn Ayers

Women who have gained a few pounds since their first pregnancy just got some extra incentive to slim down. A recent study out of the Harvard School of Public Health has found that mothers who gain weight between pregnancies face far greater risk of complications the second time around. The population-based study looked at more than 150,000 Swedish women who had their first two single-birth pregnancies between 1992 and 2001. It found that mothers who gained three or more units of body mass index (BMI)—compared to those who gained less than one—had a 78 percent greater chance of suffering from preeclampsia, a 76 percent greater chance of gestational hypertension, and a little more than twice the chance of gestational diabetes. The odds for Caesarean delivery and stillbirth were also significantly greater. To increase her BMI by three units, a 5-foot-2-inch woman weighing 120 pounds (BMI = 21.9) would need to gain 16 pounds, and even then she’d still fall within what’s considered the normal range.

The authors say these findings “suggest that even modest increases in BMI before pregnancy could result in perinatal complications, even if a woman does not become overweight.”