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There are significant changes in the body of a pregnant woman: edema, pollakiuria, constipation and other specific ailments appear. If obesity is combined with this condition, the likelihood of abnormal pregnancy development increases significantly.
For this reason, women who are overweight before becoming pregnant should think about losing weight. This recommendation applies primarily to overweight and obese patients, whose body mass index (BMI) significantly exceeds 25. Planning a pregnancy in these women is often combined with infertility treatment. In many cases, obesity is only one of the symptoms of the polymetabolic syndrome, which includes, among others lack of ovulation. Weight regulation before pregnancy is then one of the necessary elements of fertility therapy.
In a pregnant woman, the energy requirement only increases by 300 kcal per day. Therefore, pregnancy is not an excuse for binge eating.
Normal weight gain in pregnancy depends on the initial weight values. In women with a normal BMI, i.e. between 18 and 25, the body weight should not increase by more than 16 kg during pregnancy. In the case of overweight or obesity (BMI over 25), weight gain during pregnancy should not exceed 7 kg, and in the case of underweight (BMI below 18) – it should be about 18 kg.
The weight gain of a pregnant woman consists of:
• child’s weight: 3500-4000 g on average,
• enlarged uterus: 1000-2500 g,
• bearing: 500-1500 g,
• amniotic waters: 1000-1500 g,
• enlarged breasts: 500-1000 g,
• increase in the amount of body fluids, including blood: 2500-3500 g,
• pregnant adipose tissue: 2500-3500 g.
Pregnant body weight should be monitored during each visit to the doctor’s office and recorded in the pregnancy records. A temporary increase in weight may be associated not so much with its immediate weight gain due to the development of adipose tissue, but also be a symptom of water retention in the body and the formation of edema. Then it is even necessary to hospitalize the patient. Uncontrolled weight gain may also be associated with glucose intolerance or even gestational diabetes.
Obstetricians are interested in weight gain in a pregnant woman not only because of the possible complications (edema, diabetes) during the pregnancy itself. Equally important is the risk of complications that may accompany childbirth. It is worth remembering that the weight of a child over 4500 g (estimated before delivery) is an indication for a caesarean section. On the other hand, with high maternal obesity, the body weight of the newborn is often underestimated, which may result in shoulder dystocia with paralysis or even damage to the child’s shoulder plexus.
For these reasons, a pregnant woman should think about the long-term consequences of irrational eating before preparing her next meal or snack. If the expectant mother is overweight and would not like to aggravate it during pregnancy, she should avoid foods that predispose to it. Therefore, most of all fatty meats should disappear from her diet: pork, duck, goose, mutton and offal, also most fish, yellow and processed cheese, cream, ice cream, creams, butter, lard, noodles, pasta, white rice, bananas, dried fruit, beans, peas, and sweetened drinks.