EON

Women have always been fickle about their weight gain during pregnancy, as it has been the butt of many jokes and comedic acts. However, a medical panel composed of physicians, nutritionists and public health doctors assembled by the institute and the National Research Council released new guidelines stating that the healthy amount of weight gain during pregnancy differs from weight group to weight group.

Putting on too much weight in pregnancy can result in health risks such as high blood pressure or diabetes, as well as increase the chances they will require a C-section. Also, babies born to obese mothers have a higher risk of premature birth or of later becoming obese themselves.

For obese women, the guidelines are stricter then many would think, the medical panel suggesting they only gain up to twenty pounds during pregnancy.

“More women are already obese when they become pregnant. Based on data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, one-fifth of American women are obese at the start of pregnancy, a figure that has risen 70 percent in the last decade,” the report reads. In fact, a study concludes 2/9 of all pregnant Americans are obese.

A guideline has also been set for women that are considered overweight but not obese at 25 pounds, due to the same health issues that come with pregnancy and being overweight.

Reports indicate that women being overweight when becoming pregnancy has risen staggering amounts in the last decade. A study concluded that 2/3 of people are overweight when becoming pregnant.

For women who are considered to be of a healthy body weight, the guideline is set around 30 pounds to provide a safe environment for their unborn babies to survive and thrive in.

The recent surge of women considered underweight due to various culture problems has deemed the board to set a standard for the group as well, 40 pounds being considered as a healthy weight gain.

Urging people to follow these guidelines, ”This is a pretty robust set of recommendations,” The panel’s chair, Kathleen M. Rasmussen, a nutritional scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. said. “We have ample evidence that woman who gain within these guidelines do well.”

These guidelines are supported by a number of factors involving the health of the mother and embryo. Primarily the Institute’s recommendations is based on the body mass index (BMI) of the pregnant mother. This is based on a measurement of acceptable weight to height ratios. Women with a BMI of 30 or higher are thought to be obese, while a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. Normal weight women have BMIs between 18.5 and 24.9 and a BMI below 18.5 falls in the underweight range.