Obese moms-to-be have longer pregnancies

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Pregnant women who are
overweight or obese in the first trimester of pregnancy and
those who have a greater change in body weight during pregnancy
are more apt to have lengthier pregnancies and more
complications, according to results of a new study.

Dr. Fiona C. Denison, of the University of Edinburgh, UK,
and colleagues analyzed data from the Swedish Medical Birth
Register on women who gave birth between 1998 and 2002.

Out of 143,519 pregnancies, 6.8 percent were delivered
"postdate" -- defined as longer than 42 weeks. A normal
pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.

Compared with women with normal body mass indexes (BMIs),
more women with higher BMIs during the first trimester, as well
as those with greater weight gain during pregnancy, had
longer-than-normal pregnancies.

Being overweight or obese during the first trimester was
also associated with a lower chance of spontaneous delivery at
term and being obese was associated with a higher risk of
stillbirth, pregnancy-related (gestational) diabetes and need
for cesarean delivery.

"Maternal obesity poses a significant risk to maternal and
fetal health during pregnancy, and our study confirms the
findings of others that obesity is associated with significant
complications including stillbirth, gestational diabetes,
pregnancy-induced hypertension and cesarean section," Denison's
team concludes.

"If a healthy lifestyle including physical activity and
healthy eating, which are more common in underweight women,
were advocated more strongly for the obese obstetric
population," they suggest, "then obstetric outcomes might be
improved."

source:news.yahoo.com