According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention almost more than half of women between 22 to 44 are overweight. Another research states that around 60% of women in the US are overweight. Overweight and obese women are likely to have health related issues and the problem only gets worse when they get pregnant. Being overweight during pregnancy poses significant health risks to both the mother and the child. “Trim Pregnancy” authored by Alicia Pennington helps pregnant moms avoid becoming overweight by following natural ways of weight control and realize a healthy pregnancy.
A simple and easy way to determine whether you are overweight or obese is to confirm your BMI ( Body Mass Index). Knowing the BMI will help expectant moms determine the weight they should have according to their height, this will help them to maintain a steady weight during gestation and avoid an overweight pregnancy.
Overweight pregnancy can lead to various complications. Some of these include gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, large babies, difficulty in childbirth, postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) and urinary tract infections.
Gestational Hypertension: This is one of the most common condition observed in a overweight pregnancy. Also known as pregnancy induced hypertension, it is a condition when the BP (Blood Pressure) is over 140/90 without any traces of protein in the urine. Many overweight and pregnant women face this problem during the second half of their pregnancy. Although this kind of high blood pressure usually goes away after delivery but it may also signal preeclampsia.
Preeclampsia and Eclampsia: Preeclampsia is a serious condition of gestational hypertension observed in a overweight pregnancy. During preeclampsia the blood pressure goes beyond 140/90 and more than 300 mg of protein is discharged through urine within twenty four hours. Eclampsia occurs when a preeclampsia patient starts having seizures. Both these conditions are highly dangerous for the mom and the child. If untreated it can become life threatening and cause serious complications in overweight pregnancy cases. Some of the warning signs of preeclampsia are :
- Pain in the upper right side of the belly
- A quick increase in weight
- Headaches
- Vision problems
- Edema (swelling of hands and face).
There is no special treatment for gestational hypertension but it is monitored closely so that it doesn’t transform into preeclampsia or into more life threatening complications such as HELLP syndrome or eclampsia. Because of the fetus many anti-hypertensive drugs cannot be recommended as they may affect the baby negatively. Moreover the fetus also faces many life threatening conditions because of gestational hypertension, pulmonary hypoplasia is one of them. These are some of the risks of a overweight pregnancy.
In such cases the best cure is prevention. In order to avoid such critical conditions a women should not be overweight during pregnancy rather she should try to stay close to her ideal weight. Shedding just five to ten percent weight can drastically reduce the risk of pregnancy complications. But as most pregnancy isn’t planned so rather than focusing on losing weight during pregnancy one should focus on maintaining the right weight during pregnancy. And the best way to do it is to follow a healthy diet with a little bit of light exercise. This will ensure that you don’t become overweight during pregnancy, your baby stays healthy and you experience a wonderful and problem free childbirth. Trim Pregnancy is a comprehensive guide that lets you control your weight gain during pregnancy naturally thus avoiding unnecessary pregnancy complications.
