According to a study published in the journal Heliyon, being obese during pregnancy can affect your new-born's health. The researchers behind the study, from Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sud Réunion in France, reveal the optimal weight gain for women that would give them a balanced risk of having a very small or very large baby. The team has developed an online calculator that can advise women on their ideal weight gain for the safest birth outcome, based on the research.
According to the researchers, women want to know what their optimal weight gain should be to have their baby as safely as possible, and their maternity care providers want to know what advice they can give women throughout their pregnancy. While the results show the recommendations are fine for women in the normal weight range, we have shown they are not ideal for very underweight and very overweight women.
As per the researchers, there is a strong link between the weight of mother and baby: very underweight mothers tend to have smaller babies, called small for gestational age (SGA) babies - and morbidly obese mothers tend to have more large for gestational age (LGA) babies. These babies are at higher risk of conditions like heart attacks, hypertension, obesity and diabetes as adults than babies born at normal weight.
The team of researchers carried out a 16.5 year observational study. They recorded the pre-pregnancy BMI, weight gain, and weight of the baby of 52,092 women who gave birth at full term. The first finding was that only women with a normal BMI had a balanced risk of having an SGA or LGA baby (both 10 percent risk); they call this crossing point the Maternal Fetal Corpulence Symbiosis (MFCS).
As per the study, a woman with a BMI of 17 should gain about 22 kilograms instead of the recommended 12.5-18 kilograms. An obese woman with a BMI of 32 should gain 3.6 kilograms instead of the recommended five to nine kilograms. And very obese women with a BMI of 40 should actually lose six kilograms.
Your dietary choices may also affect your weight. Here are some foods that may help speed up weight loss.
1. Salads
Salads are one of the most obvious low-calorie items. Include more greens and veggies with high water content that make it calorically low. Make sure you add optimal amount of seasonings.
2. Apples
Apples contain pectin, which is a substance that helps you keep fuller for longer. Apples take a while to eat, and end up tricking your brain into believing that your stomach is full. Toss them in your salads, yogurt or oatmeal.
3. Oatmeal
Oatmeal absorbs a lot of water, and is loaded with fibre, both of which make it an excellent food to stave off those hunger pangs, while using quite a few calories to do so.
4. Eggs
Eggs have low calories to offer; therefore you can load up on eggs for some generous amount of protein that keeps your tummy fuller for long. Do not add butter or oil, which will only make the calorie count go up dramatically.