Weight Gain between Pregnancies Risky
November 27, 2021 Category :Diabetes Research| Healthy News 0
Women who put on as little as seven pounds between pregnancies can put themselves and their babies at medical risk, suggests one study.
Researchers found that gaining weight between pregnancies – not during pregnancy itself – raised the risk of complications like diabetes and high blood pressure, and even stillbirth, during the second pregnancy. While pregnant women with existing diabetes or high blood pressure are at a higher risk of convulsions or organ damage, which in severe cases, can be fatal.
The study, reported in the British medical journal, The Lancet, provides evidence that overweight or obese women who plan to get pregnant should lose weight, while those with healthy weight should avoid getting extra weight before pregnancy.
Researchers examined records of more than 150,000 Swedishwomen who delivered two children between 1992 and 2001. They focused on body-mass index (BMI) calculations – a calculation from a person’s height and weight – and examined the difference between the women’s BMI at the beginning of two consecutive pregnancies.
One important finding was that the risk of complications increased even among women who did not end up overweight. Researchers further that developing diabetes is associated not only with those who are morbidly obese but even among those who register relatively small weight increases too.
In summary, the study says that a 1 or 2 BMI unit increase in weight ups the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy by up to 40 percent. If BMI rose by 3 or more units during the second pregnancy, the risk of a stillbirth also increases by 63 percent.
Women who put on as little as seven pounds between pregnancies can put themselves and their babies at medical risk, suggests one study. » Continue Reading
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