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Weight Gain
Weight
gain in pregnancy varies from woman to woman and pregnancy to
pregnancy. On an average, a pregnant woman should gain about 11-12
kgs during pregnancy. Underweight women and those bearing twins
could gain more. If your weight is proper, your baby will gain
weight properly too. A pregnant woman on an average needs to add
roughly 300 calories per day to her diet, which should be a well
balanced nutritional diet, in order to gain weight.
Underweight pregnant women
are likely to have premature babies. Women gaining excessive weight
are likely to have more problems in pregnancy, and may have a
difficult vaginal delivery because of an overweight baby. Rapid
weight gain more than 2 kg/month in the later months of pregnancy
may be early manifestation of preeclampsia (a complication of
pregnancy). Stationery or falling weight is suggestive of intra-uterine
growth retardation or intra-uterine death of the foetus.
Rate of Weight
Gain
1st Trimester
(1-14
weeks of Pregnancy)
1. |
May
gain about 1 kg, mostly in the later part of the trimester. |
2. |
Pregnant
women with vomiting (morning sickness) may not gain at all
or lose
some weight. Fortunately the foetus need for calories and
nutrition is low at this stage. |
2nd
Trimester
(15-28
weeks of Pregnancy)
| 1. |
Weight
gain is roughly between 5-6 kgs. |
| 2. |
Gain in weight
is roughly 400-500 gms/week. |
3rd
Trimester
(29-40
weeks of Pregnancy)
| 1. |
Weight
gain is roughly 5 kgs. Gain in weight is mostly before 38
weeks of pregnancy
and there is negligible weight gain thereafter. |
Q.
Would my diet affect the baby?
To ensure that your
baby develops in a healthy environment you should keep your body
as fit and well nourished as you possibly can. While you don't
need to devise a
special diet for pregnancy, you do need to eat a good variety
of right food
- those that are rich in the essentials nutrients. If you
are deficient in any
part of your diet, this will affect not only you but how
well you can support the
pregnancy and nourish the baby. A
study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health that
of the women
who were on an excellent diet, 95% of them had healthy
babies, whereas of the
women throwing on junk food only 8% of them had healthy
babies, 65% had
premature, malnourished, functionally immature or still
born babies. This shows the
baby's health is directly related to the mothers diet during
pregnancy.
Q.
What is the ideal weight gain for a healthy pregnancy?
On pregnancy
you should for your own good and that of baby gain weight. It
is now known that a reasonable, not excessive, weight gain is
essential. An average weight gain by women in pregnancy is a
25 pounds with the most rapid gain usually between 24 weeks
to 32 weeks. In the past there was a wrong attitude that the
more you eat, more weight you gain and the more weight the baby
gains. Rather excessive weight gain can be a risk factor in
pregnancy. It could lead to gestational diabetes, hypertension,
backaches too gaining too little weight can interfere i.e. normal
l foetal growth and development. Dieting is not a good idea
in pregnancy. A study has shown that prolonged labors are directly
related to the way in which the uterus has grown during pregnancy
and that in turn depends on how well nourished the mother has
been.
Q.
What is considered optimum weight gain?
There are two reasons for the weight gain during pregnancy :
a. to nourish the developing foetus
b. to store up reserves for breastfeeding
When a woman eats what she needs, her weight gain usually follows
a natural and predictable pattern. You may find that you put
on weight and your figure changes almost from the time you confirm
pregnancy (6-8 weeks). However, your weight gain will be monitored
from your first prenatal visit.
| Duration
of Pregnancy |
Weight
Gain in Pounds |
| First
Trimester |
3
-4 |
| Second
Trimester |
12
-14 |
| Third
Trimester |
8
- 10 |
(This is a rough guide to
your weight gain at a given time during pregnancy) |
