Carrying a new life inside you is a joyous blessing. But it also entails a lot of responsibility as you care for the baby in you for nine months. One very important aspect of pregnancy is ensuring the health of the mother and the baby. Since the fetus gets its nourishment directly from the mother, the mother’s weight gain is one indicator of a healthy pregnancy.
People in different countries have differing views on what should be considered as proper weight gain during pregnancy. Many consider a weight gain of around twenty to thirty pounds as healthy; some recommend calculating the proper weight gain depending on the weight of the mother before getting pregnant.
Why all the fuss about a woman’s weight gain during pregnancy? Women are self-conscious about their weight gain during pregnancy because they worry about how to lose the excess weight after gaining weight. Some even feel depressed because they feel ugly due to the weight gain. While these are acceptable reasons for being weight-conscious during pregnancy, there are other more important dangers of too much (or too little) weight gain.
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy can pose numerous health problems both to the mother and to the growing baby. Dangers include higher risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and increased tiredness or breathlessness. Pre-eclampsia may endanger the life of the baby and the mother. Other negative physical changes due to too much weight gain is varicose veins, swollen feet, and stretch marks.
If the pregnant mother has excess weight gain, the baby can also become overweight and too big for natural delivery. This could increase the possibility of complications while giving birth and also increases the possibility of delivery via caesarian section.
These risks are likely to continue even after giving birth so it is best to be healthy and avoid too much weight gain at the onset of pregnancy.