The Dangers of Gaining Too Much Weight During Pregnancy

This article highlights a very important health issue for expectant mothers around the world, which is how to keep oneself from gaining to much weight while pregnant. The main part of the article went over parameters and the results of a study conducted by Dr. Tammy Chang, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. Her research team poured over 1000 pregnant women’s medical records looking for markers of what causes higher weight gain amoungst women. The main two that they found were having a high bmi or body mass index score before becoming pregnant, and being from a low income family. After analyzing of the data researchers suggested health workers implement various education programs in order to lower the rates of obesity in pregnant and new mothers alike. Some of the dangers of obesity amoungst newborns and mothers include high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes. Teens are at an especially high risk of this because their bodies are still developing. The other main way the doctors suggested fighting obesity in pregnant teens was by encouraging them to make smarter food choices. Dr. Chang’s hospital is accomplishing this task by operating a store in the hospital that sells healthy foods.

Key Points:

  • 1Gaining 25 to 30 pounds during pregnancy is normal. Anything above this puts the mother and child at greater risk.
  • 2Mothers that are obese will either have to large or to small of a child. If the mother is not healthy it is hard for the baby to be.
  • 3Over half of the women who enter pregnancy are considered obese based on their body mass index.


Pregnancy and weight gain are like peanut butter and jelly – they go hand-in-hand.
Expectant mothers are supposed to gain weight during the gestational period.
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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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