Can I gain weight during pregnancy?

Weight gain in most cases is part of a healthy pregnancy. Many changes in your body including increased blood and fluid volume, tissue growth and the developing fetus contribute to the body weight. The obstetrician is essential to advisement of healthy weight gain or in some instances of morbid obesity weight loss during pregnancy. A general guide for total weight gain using body mass index (BMI), which is an estimate of fat storage calculated as kilograms of body weight divided by meters squared is as follows below:

• Underweight BMI of 18.5 or less, 35 to 45 pounds of weight gain advised
• Normal weight BMI of 18.5 to 25, 25 to 35 pounds of weight gain advised
• Overweight BMI of 25 to 30, 15 to 25 pounds of weight gain advised.
• Obese BMI of greater than 30, as advised by your physician

Pregnancy is a time to gain weight, not a time to diet. Your weight takes care of itself when you eat a well-balanced diet of healthy foods. When you consume adequate calories during pregnancy you help your baby to achieve a healthy birth weight. Women who enter pregnancy at an average weight usually gain between twenty and thirty-five pounds. If you are underweight, you may gain more; if heavier, you may gain less. The pattern of weight gain also varies. Some women gain steadily; some lose weight in the beginning and then gain quickly later; some gain in the beginning and then don't gain as much later in pregnancy.

Find out more about this book: Our Bodies, Ourselves: A New Edition for a New Era

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