How Much Weight Should Women Gain During Pregnancy?

Published On: May 29th, 2009

Too much weight gain during pregnancy can be unhealthy, particularly for women who are overweight or obese when they become pregnant. And as the rate of obesity has grown in the U.S., so have questions about how much weight women should gain during pregnancy.

The Institute of Medicine put out some long-awaited guidelines yesterday to answer that question, but the new recommendations aren’t much different from the old ones.

Here are the guidelines. They’re based on body-mass index, or BMI, which you can calculate here.

Women who are underweight (BMI less than 18.5) should gain 28-40 pounds.
Women of normal weight (BMI of 18.5-24.9) should gain 25-35 pounds.
Women who are overweight (BMI of 25-29.9) should gain should gain 15-25 pounds.
Women who are obese (BMI of 30 or more) should gain 11-20 pounds.

While earlier guidelines didn’t have a formal upper limit for how much weight obese women should gain, it’s been clear for a while that too much weight gain can be a problem for those in that group.

For example, this 2005 notice from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology describes the risks associated with obesity during pregnancy. It cites earlier IOM guidelines and says obese women should gain 15 pounds during pregnancy, compared with 15-25 pounds for overweight women and 25-35 pounds for women of normal weight.

Photo: iStockphoto

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