Obesity is increasingly common among pregnant women, and it can cause significant risk to mother and fetus. Because they care for women throughout the reproductive cycle, family physicians can help improve outcomes in pregnancies complicated by obesity. Family physicians who provide prenatal care should also be familiar with recommendations for the management of obesity in pregnancy. Women with...

OBJECTIVE To assess the association between pre-gestational obesity and weight gain with cesarean delivery and labor complications. METHODS A total of 4,486 women 20-28 weeks pregnant attending general prenatal care clinics of the national health system in Brazil from 1991 to 1995 were enrolled and followed up through birth. Body mass index categories based on prepregnancy weight and total we...

Obesity is an emerging major health risk for women around the world. In this regard, little attention has been given to pregnancy, a moment of risk not only for major weight gain in these women, but also for macrosomia in their offspring. The objective of this study is to evaluate weight gain during pregnancy. Data pertains to a cohort of pregnant women attending general prenatal care clinics i...

BACKGROUND As obesity has increased worldwide, so have levels of obesity during pregnancy and excess gestational weight gain (GWG). The aim of this paper was to describe GWG among American Samoan women and examine the association between GWG and four adverse pregnancy and infant outcomes: cesarean delivery, small- and large-for-gestational age (SGA/LGA), and infant overweight/obesity. METHODS...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the Mediterranean diet (MD) on weight gain and obesity in pregnant women in Gran Canaria. METHODS Cross sectional study in 170 pregnant women We measured the adherence to the MD before and during pregnancy by a food frequency questionnaire. Body mass index (BMI) was determined in the first prenatal visit. Appropriate weight gain was calculated according to ...

This study was designed to identify maternal characteristics associated with smoking during pregnancy and inappropriate gestational weight gain. Data were collected retrospectively from records of 252 women enrolled in the Siouxland WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program in Sioux City, Iowa. Twenty-three percent of women reported smoking during pregnancy. Forty-four percent of women gained ...

Background: The pattern of weight gain during pregnancy among HIV-infected women is largely unknown. Multivitamin supplementation was shown to be effective in preventing adverse pregnancy outcomes among HIV-positive women. These protective effects could be mediated in part by an improvement in the pattern of gestational weight gain. Objective: We examined the effects of multivitamin and vitamin...

BACKGROUND Many pregnant women gain excess weight during pregnancy which increases the health risks to the mother and her baby. Interventions to prevent excess weight gain need to be given to the whole population to prevent excess weight gain. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a simple and brief intervention embedded withinroutine antenatal care to prevent excessive gesta...

BACKGROUND Maternal glucose and lipid levels are associated with neonatal anthropometry of the offspring, also independently of maternal body mass index (BMI). Gestational weight gain, however, is often not accounted for. The objective was to explore whether the effects of maternal glucose and lipid levels on offspring's birth weight and subcutaneous fat were independent of early pregnancy BMI ...

Background Studies of neighborhood racial composition or neighborhood poverty in association with pregnancy-related weight are limited. Prior studies of neighborhood racial density and poverty has been in association with adverse birth outcomes and suggest that neighborhoods with high rates of poverty and racial composition of black residents are typically segregated and systematically isolated...