Effect of Gestational Weight Gain on Overweight and Obese Pregnant Women

Objective: To examine the adherence of gestational weight gain (GWG) recommendations and pregnancy outcomes among overweight and obese pregnant women.Materials and Methods: The medical records of 405 overweight or obese pregnant women who delivered at Siriraj Hospital between September 2018 and June 2019 were reviewed. The adherence to GWG recommendations according to pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) was examined. The characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of the overweight and obese pregnancies as well as between the adherence and non-adherence to the GWG recommendations groups were studied and compared between the groups.Results: Adherence to the GWG recommendations between the overweight and obese pregnancy groups were significantly different at 60.2% and 44% respectively (p-value = 0.002), although the average GWG was significantly lower in the obese than overweight pregnancies (p-value = 0.003). Pre-pregnancy BMI was significantly higher in the non-adherence group compared with the adherence group (p-value = 0.025). Pregnancy outcomes as well as the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus between these two groups were comparable. Also, adverse pregnancy outcomes were not statistically significantly different among the adherence and non-adherence groups.Conclusion: The adherence to gestational weight gain recommendations in obese and overweight pregnancies is still a challenge. Obese pregnant women are less likely to control weight gain during pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy BMI is an important factor for overweight and obese pregnant women to achieve the GWG goal. Ensuring a proper GWG alone might not improve most adverse pregnancy outcomes in overweight and obese pregnancies.