WEIGHT-GAIN AND THE OUTCOME OF PREGNANCY

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 135  (1) , 3-9
Abstract
Mothers who were overweight at the start of pregnancy had the fewest fetal and neonatal deaths with a 16 lb weight gain at term. The optimal weight gain for normally proportioned mothers was 20 lb and for underweight mothers 30 lb. For all 3 groups perinatal mortality rates increased with weight gains less or more than these optimal values. Very low or very high pregnancy weight gains had only a modest influence on the frequency of common placental and fetal disorders. Once one of these disorders was established, mortality rates from it usually increased severalfold when mothers had very low or very high weight gains.