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What is obesity? To understand more about being obese is to know that it starts with being overweight.  Overweight is defined as being 10% to 15%  heavier than recommended for a woman’s height, or having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 to 30. Obese means having a BMI of 30 or more.  Average weight gain in pregnancy should only be in the range of 11-16 kilograms, but will vary depending on the mother’s pre-pregnancy weight.

Obesity is associated with many complications in pregnancy. Women find it hard to get pregnant when they are overweight much more when they are obese, and if pregnancy does occur, the risk of complications during pregnancy and problems for the baby after birth increase considerably.

What are these complications?

1. Gestational diabetes. Pregnant women who have never had diabetes before but who have high blood sugar or glucose levels during pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes. For most women who are suffering from this disorder, the main worry is that too much glucose will end up in the baby’s blood.  All this excess blood sugar and insulin can cause your baby to become more fat and put on extra weight, particularly in the upper body.
2. Preeclampsia. During pregnancy and the postpartum period, there is a disorder that occurs that affects both the mother and the unborn baby, called preeclampsia.  Preeclampsia is a disorder of pregnancy wherein there is an elevation of blood pressure associated with proteinuria and pathologic edema.
3. Frequent Hospitalization. The mother is at risk of being hospitalized many times during pregnancy if she’s overweight. If her BMI is over 35 or if she’s obese, the risk goes up by 6 to 7 times.
4. Perinatal and Maternal Mortality. The risk of deaths in babies also increases as BMI of the mother increases. Even though the risks are well documented by research, most doctors and their patients  are unaware of this connection. When a mother is obese during pregnancy,  there is an increase risk of death in both the mother and the baby.
5. Increased Risk for Maternal Disorders. The average time it takes for obese women to become pregnant was significantly longer (11 months) than normal weight and overweight women (7-8 months).  Many obese women develop a disorder in which the ovaries are enlarged with cysts, with different levels of male hormones.  These are categorized with irregular menses, which can interfere with ovulation.
6. Increased Risk of Birth Defects. When women are obese during pregnancy, chances are, their babies have increased weight at birth and, therefore, may have Cesarean section delivery and low blood sugar. When a woman is obese during pregnancy, there is a possibility of an increased risk of birth defects, particularly neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.

Knowing these many complications of obesity associated with pregnancy,  why take the risk?   Women who are pregnant should attain the optimum level of health and wellness to ensure a healthy and active condition of pregnancy for her own welfare and also for the baby.