Overweight Pregnant Women Not Getting Proper Weight-Gain Advice, Study Suggests

Why bother? They gained weight without advice already.

Overweight women are not receiving proper advice on healthy weight gains or appropriate exercise levels during their pregnancies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

"Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is associated with weight retention after delivery and is a positive predictor of obesity after pregnancy," Dr. Cynthia Chuang, associate professor of medicine and public health sciences, said. "Excessive gestational weight is particularly concerning for overweight and obese women given their already increased risk for pregnancy complications."

Overweight is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 25-29, and obese as more than 29.

Guidelines for weight gain are based on the weight of the woman at the start of pregnancy. Women of a normal weight are advised to gain 25 to 35 pounds, overweight women are advised to gain 15 to 25 pounds, and obese women are advised to gain less than 20 pounds.

They will almost certainly be able to do it again when pregnant.