According to a new study, healthy weight gain advice is not given to overweight pregnant women during their pregnancies.
While it is advised by doctors that pregnant women should gain a certain amount of weight during their pregnancy, proper advice regarding weight gain is not provided to them, say researchers of Penn State College of Medicine.
"Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is associated with weight retention after delivery and is a positive predictor of obesity after pregnancy," Dr. Cynthia Chuang, associate professor of medicine and public health sciences, said in a report published in Medical News Today. "Excessive gestational weight is particularly concerning for overweight and obese women given their already increased risk for pregnancy complications."
The amount of weight a woman should gain during pregnancy depends on her weight at the start of her pregnancy. Doctors advise women of normal weight to gain 25 to 35 pounds, while overweight women are advised to gain 15 to 25 pounds. It is always recommended that obese women gain less than 20 pounds.
The study was conducted on 24 women after the birth of their first child. Half of these women were overweight, while the other 12 were obese. It was found that all 12 of the overweight women and 9 from the obese women gained more weight than doctors actually recommend.
"Women received little, if any, feedback regarding whether their weight gain during pregnancy was healthy or not," Chuang said. "Some women who received their care at obstetrical group practices and were seen by different providers in the same practice even received conflicting advice."
The findings of the study were published in the recent Women's Health Issues.
"Women may believe that their healthcare provider is not concerned with excessive weight since they are not being counseled," Chuang said. "Some may believe that their provider will alert them if they are gaining too much weight."
