Determining Ideal Gestational Weight Gain: Prepregnancy BMI Matters

In a Swedish cohort, the optimal gestational weight gain for avoiding adverse pregnancy outcomes was less than the IOM recommendations for any maternal BMI category.

The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy are not universally accepted, in part because they do not address birth outcomes along the continuum of maternal weight change in relation to prepregnancy BMI. In a population-based cohort study based on Swedish Medical Birth Registry data, a researcher evaluated maternal and fetal outcomes in relation to maternal BMI and gestational weight gain. The study included 298,648 singleton pregnancies delivered in Sweden from 1994 through 2004. Prepregnancy maternal BMI was calculated retrospectively and was used to stratify the study population into four groups: those with BMI <20.0 (32,485), BMI 20.0–24.9 (167,517), BMI 25.0–29.9 (70,907), and BMI ≥30.0 (28,039). The…

Reviewing Author

Sandra Ann Carson, MD

Determining Ideal Gestational Weight Gain: Prepregnancy BMI Matters

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Reviewing Author