One of the most curious subjects during pregnancy is the amount of weight gained. The pregnancy process of every expectant mother is different. Therefore, there is no clear standard for this. If you are at a normal weight before pregnancy, in other words, if your body mass index is between 19-25, it would be appropriate to gain 11-15 kilograms during pregnancy.
If you are at a weight that can be considered low before pregnancy, this can be as dangerous as a high-weight pregnancy. Here, low weight is meant by expectant mothers with a body mass index of 19 and below. It would be appropriate for these people to gain 13-18 kilos during their pregnancy.
WHAT RISKS MAY OCCUR IF YOU GAIN OVER OR LESS WEIGHT?
Excess weight gain during pregnancy can cause some problems for both mother and baby. Some of these problems can be listed as follows:
- Macrosomic fetus (your baby becomes larger than normal in the womb),
- Premature birth (Premature birth. This may cause the need for an incubator in the newborn),
- Polyhydramnios (more amniotic fluid in the baby than normal),
- gestational diabetes,
- High blood pressure, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia
- cardiovascular diseases,
- Discomfort in areas such as waist, neck and knees.
- Again, the mother’s being underweight can cause the baby to be underweight and premature birth.
- Every pregnant woman should determine the most appropriate weight gain for herself. But if average values are mentioned:
- Especially avoid gaining excess weight for the first three months.
- It is ideal to gain a maximum of 1.5-2 kilograms in total in the first 3 months. Since the first three months are especially intense in terms of nausea and vomiting, even no weight gain in the first three months can be considered normal. In particular, it is necessary not to get caught up in thoughts such as “I wonder if my baby can’t feed” or “I have two people now, I have to feed for two”.
- After the third month, it will be appropriate to start with a monthly increase of 0.7-1 kilograms and up to 2 kilograms (1.7 kilograms on average) in the last months.