Gaining Too Much Weight During Pregnancy Nearly Doubles Risk Of Having A Heavy Baby

A study from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research of more than 41,540 women and their babies found that women who gained over 40 pounds during their pregnancies were nearly twice as likely to have a heavy baby.

One in five women gains excessive weight during pregnancy, doubling her chance of having a baby weighing more than 9 pounds. So many women gain too much weight, and their baby is at a higher risk of being overweight when born and obese later in life because of it. A big baby may lead to vaginal tearing, bleeding, and often C-sections in women and stuck shoulders and broken collar bones in the babies. Less than 12 percent of the women with normal weight gain had heavy babies.

At greatest risk are the women who gain more than 40 pounds and have gestational diabetes, since nearly thirty percent of them had heavy babies in the study. Only 13 percent of the women with gestational diabetes but gained less than 40 pounds had heavy babies.

“The take-home message is that all pregnant women need to watch their weight gain, and it is especially important for women who have risk factors like gestational diabetes,” said Dr. Hillier, MD, MS, an endocrinologist and senior investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Oregon and Hawaii.

I find this very interesting because of the reproductive lectures in class. Before we can understand in vitro cloning, we first must understand every little detail of the birthing process, and at the moment, scientists are playing with fire. There are too many unknowns, too many variables, and too many unanswered questions.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081031102041.htm

Daniel Grunden