Weight gain during pregnancy is normal. Rather it is necessary to gain a certain amount of weight as the body now needs nutrition for two. Expectant mothers tend to be worried about gaining too much weight as excessive weight gain leads to a number of complications during delivery and postpartum. In order to decide whether the weight gain is excessive or not, one first needs to know how much weight gain is considered normal.
Optimum Weight Gain
For a mother who was average sized before pregnancy, a weight gain of 25-30 pounds is considered optimum. In other words, one just needs to add 300 calories to their normal calorie intake in order to get the optimum calories needed. The calorie count will be higher if the mother is carrying twins or triplets.
Hence, if the calorie intake is higher than the above mentioned rate, it could lead to excessive weight gain during pregnancy.
Problems Due To Excessive Weight Gain.
Pregnancy is not an excuse of eating without measure. Such practices lead to excessive weight gain which in turn creates a lot of problems.
Some of them are mentioned below-
Excessive weight creates a strain on the circulatory and digestive systems. It can affect the mother’s chances of having a problem free delivery.
The body already has to do a lot of work in helping the fetus to develop. The extra weight creates a further strain thereby disrupting the development process.
Extra weight leads to high blood pressure. The heart will need to work harder to pump blood to all parts of the body. This may prove to be dangerous to both the mother and the baby.
Excessive weight gained during pregnancy is very hard to shed off post pregnancy. This may give rise to many weight related issues.
Tips To Avoid The Excessive Weight Gain
Excessive weight gain often occurs due to intake of food belonging to “empty calorie” groups like junk food which have high content of saturated fat and low nutrition. The food should have enough nutrients [vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals] to nourish the developing fetus.
Hence, a healthy diet comprising of nutritious food meets the motive of weight gain and also keeps the weight gain to an optimum level.
One should keep a proper chart of the step by step gain of weight during pregnancy. The following mock chart is made for a woman who weighed around 140 pounds before pregnancy-
15 weeks: 2-5 pounds Total Weight: 142-145 pounds
20 weeks: 6-11 pounds Total Weight: 146-151 pounds
25 weeks: 11-17 pounds Total Weight: 151-157 pounds
30 weeks: 16-23 pounds Total Weight: 156-163 pounds
35 weeks: 20-28 pounds Total Weight: 160-168 pounds
40 weeks: 25-35 pounds Total Weight: 165-175 pounds
