Pregnancy health warning
Health professionals are dealing with “an epidemic of obesity” among pregnant women as weight gain across the wider population continues to rise, experts said.
About half of women of childbearing age are either overweight (with a BMI of 25-29.9) or obese (with a BMI of 30 or above) and approximately 16% of women in England are obese from the start of pregnancy, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).
The guidance outlines the importance in achieving a healthy weight and BMI before pregnancy, keeping weight down between children and avoiding “crash dieting” in pregnancy. It emphasises that there is no need to “eat for two” and women should instead follow sensible eating habits to avoid unnecessary weight gain.
Under the recommendations, women should not eat more food than normal until the last three months of pregnancy.
Even then they should only have an extra 200 calories a day – the equivalent of two bananas or a latte. Nice fears that growing numbers of obese women are becoming even fatter during pregnancy because they assume that they can ‘eat for two’.
Professor Poston said that obese women faced a greater risk of “almost every complication in the book in pregnancy”, including pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, miscarriage and maternal death. At her ante-natal clinics there had been an “exponential increase” in obesity among those attending.
The guidance recommends detailed discussions of diet and habits with all women with a BMI of more than 25, while those with a BMI greater than 30 should be offered advice on losing weight before pregnancy. Such women should not be encouraged to diet during pregnancy, but offered guidance from dieticians on avoiding further weight gain and managing the associated risks.
