Original ArticleHow common is substantial weight gain after pregnancy?
Introduction
Although large, population-based studies indicate that on average, women gain 1–2 kg between consecutive pregnancies [1], [2], women with obesity often attribute its development to childbearing. Among women attending a Swedish weight loss clinic, 40–50% reported that pregnancy had been an important trigger for the development of their obesity [3], and a review of our hospital’s obesity treatment clinic [4] found that 35% of the 825 women who attended between February 2004 and December 2012 reported the onset of their obesity to coincide with pregnancy (unpublished observation). Although these accounts are susceptible to recall bias, clearly some women do experience extreme weight gain in relation to pregnancy. Nearly 70 years ago, Sheldon wrote a descriptive account of 40 such women referred to him, with rapid-onset, sustained increases in weight which began during or shortly after one or more pregnancies [5]. There is little contemporary data available regarding how commonly this occurs, particularly in women of different body mass index (BMI) categories. The aim of this study was to address this question by examining inter-pregnancy weight changes among women receiving antenatal care at a tertiary obstetric hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
Section snippets
Subjects, materials and methods
This study was a retrospective review of data obtained from the Birthing Outcomes System electronic record of women aged 20 years or older, who delivered at least two consecutive singleton infants at term (≥37 weeks’ gestation) at Mercy Hospital for Women between December 1994 and December 2015. Women were weighed in the clinic at their first antenatal appointment. Data extracted from the electronic record included maternal weight at the first antenatal visit (mean ± SD 15.1 ± 4.9 weeks), height,
Results
Baseline characteristics of the women included are given in Table 1. At the first antenatal visit in their initial pregnancy, 3.3% of women were underweight, 56.9% normal weight, 25.9% overweight and 13.9% obese by BMI classification. Chi square tests indicated significant differences across BMI categories in place of birth (p < 0.001) and socioeconomic status (p < 0.001). A greater percentage of women categorised as underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2) were born in Asia than Australia, whereas between
Discussion
In clinical practice, women seeking treatment for obesity often identify pregnancy as the precipitating factor in the development of their obesity [3]. Although mean inter-pregnancy weight gains of 2 kg or less are usually observed in epidemiological studies [1], [2], [3], the incidence of substantial weight gain is not often reported, particularly among women in different BMI categories. The purpose of this study was to examine this in a contemporary population. In this review of electronic
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this work.
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