You can often hear that a pregnant woman needs to eat for two. From a medical point of view, this statement has nothing to do with the truth. Eating for two means quickly gaining weight. And while carrying a baby, extra pounds are an additional burden on the mother’s body and a high risk of complications. We will tell you in this material what normal weight gain should be during different periods of pregnancy.
Why does weight increase during pregnancy?
Weight during pregnancy is a rather individual criterion. In some women, it may decrease in the first and third trimesters if, for example, severe toxicosis is observed. For others, their weight is constantly growing. Initially, the weight of the expectant mother depends on her physique and body weight before pregnancy.
In obese women, the total weight gain during pregnancy can be half as much as the total weight gain in thin, slender girls.
Weight, to one degree or another, constantly increases during pregnancy. However, the body weight of newborn boys and girls is on average the same - from 3000 to 4000 grams. It depends little on how much women have gained during pregnancy- 5 or 15 kilograms. Different increases are an individual trait of expectant mothers.
Body weight growth consists of several components:
- Baby. His weight is about a third of his mother’s entire increase. Typically, babies are born weighing between 2500 and 4000 grams.
- Placenta. On average, about 5% of the total weight of a pregnant woman is allocated to the “children's place”. The placenta usually weighs about half a kilogram - from 400 to 600 grams.
- Amniotic fluid. By the third trimester, the waters in which the baby swims reach a weight of one and a half kilograms. True, closer to childbirth, their number decreases, as well as weight. The mass of amniotic fluid is about ten percent of the total increase.
- Uterus. A woman's main reproductive organ invariably grows so that the baby can fit in it until birth. The weight of the uterus by the end of gestation reaches a whole kilogram, and this is approximately 10% of the total increase.
- Breast. Women's breasts begin to undergo changes from the very first weeks of pregnancy, and by the time of childbirth they most often increase significantly due to the overgrown glandular tissue. It is easier for women to imagine these changes in volume.
But we are talking about weight, and therefore it is worth taking into account that the weight of a grown breast on average is about 600 grams, which is about 2-3% of the total weight gain of the expectant mother.
- Blood volume. In a pregnant woman's body, the volume of freely circulating blood is increased by approximately 2 times compared to non-pregnant women. On average, the mass of blood pumped by the expectant mother’s heart is about one and a half kilograms.
- Cellular and intercellular fluids. Their weight in the body of the expectant mother can approach 2 kilograms. And together with the volume of blood we talked about above, fluids account for about a quarter of all weight gain.
- Fat reserves. The pregnant woman's body begins to take care in advance to store fat as a source of energy for the upcoming birth and postpartum period. About 3-4 kilograms of fat are deposited in the body of the expectant mother, which is about 30% of the total weight gain.
Changes in body weight
The dynamics of pregnancy body weight growth are not the same at different times:
- During the first half of gestation, a woman on average gains about 40% of the total increase.
- During the second half of pregnancy, the increase is about 60% of the total number of kilograms acquired during the entire period of gestation.
In the early stages, the hormone progesterone is responsible for the accumulation of fat. It triggers a lot of processes in the expectant mother’s body aimed at preserving and further developing the embryo. Creating a fat “reserve” is also one of the mechanisms for the preservation and well-being of the fetus.
In the second trimester, the placenta begins to actively grow and develop, the amount of circulating blood increases, which invariably leads to an increase in body weight. Even if in the first trimester there was weight loss due to toxicosis and lack of appetite, in the middle of pregnancy, when the nausea subsides, the woman will be able to gain everything that was not gained in earlier stages.
In the third trimester, the amount of amniotic fluid begins to decrease, but weight continues to gain due to the fact that the child is actively gaining weight. Only in the last two to three weeks does the weight begin to decrease somewhat, since the baby has already gained its weight and the amount of amniotic fluid has reached its minimum. In addition, the pregnant woman's body begins to physiologically prepare for childbirth, at a natural level, freeing oneself from everything unnecessary that could interfere with the birth process.
Increase rates - how to calculate?
Normal weight gain depends on the woman’s weight before pregnancy. For a woman with her own normal weight, an increase of 10 to 15 kilograms over the entire period of gestation is considered correct. If a woman is slightly overweight, her normal weight gain can be considered to be no more than 11 kilograms. In obese women, the weight should increase by no more than 7-8 kilograms over nine months.
A doctor will help you correctly calculate an individual increase, taking into account all the factors that influence the weight of a given expectant mother - her body composition, the presence of multiple pregnancies, etc.
On average, an increase of 200 grams per week is considered the norm during the first trimester. By week 12, a woman’s weight should increase by a maximum of 3-4 kilograms. In the second trimester, when appetite improves and toxicosis, if it existed, recedes, the increase is more intense - up to 400 grams per week. At the very end of pregnancy, the increase is usually no more than 100-150 grams per week.
During the first visit to the obstetrician-gynecologist, when a woman applies for registration, her height and weight will be measured.
If the expectant mother knows her parameters before pregnancy, she must inform the doctor about them.
Based on these two values, the doctor will calculate BMI (body mass index), which will allow you to judge whether weight gain is correct or excessive throughout pregnancy. Body mass index is weight divided by height squared.
For example, a woman weighs 55 kilograms and her height is 1 meter 60 centimeters. The calculations will look like this: 55/ (1.6^2). It turns out that this woman's BMI is approximately 21.5. This corresponds to normal weight, and an increase of 10-13 kilograms in this case will not be considered pathological.
Depending on what the BMI turns out to be, the woman will be given the maximum permissible increase limit:
- A BMI below 18.5 is underweight; such a woman’s weight gain during pregnancy can reach up to 18 kilograms, and this will be quite normal;
- BMI from 18.5 to 25 is normal weight, the increase can be from 10 to 15 kilograms;
- BMI from 25 to 30 – overweight, the gain should not exceed 9-10 kilograms;
- A BMI of 30 and above is obesity, and weight gain above 7 kilograms during the entire gestation period will be considered pathological.
If a woman is carrying not just one baby, but twins or triplets, then the growth rates will be completely different compared to a singleton pregnancy.
Increase rates for the entire period - table:
When calculating the individual norm, different antenatal clinics use different norms for the ratio of real weight to body mass index. We discussed above the most popular rating system. However, in some consultations, doctors use a different system, the international one, according to which a BMI below 19.8 is considered normal weight, above 19.8 to 26 is overweight, and above 26 is considered obese.
The body mass index itself is calculated in exactly the same way as indicated above. Based on the results obtained, you can calculate your individual increase by week and month. Depending on the system by which BMI was calculated, the growth rates may look like this.
Table of increases by week according to different BMI calculations:
Gestation period, weeks | BMI less than 18.5 (kg) | BMI from 18.5 to 25 (kg) | BMI over 30 (kg) | BMI less than 19.8 (kg) | BMI from 19.8 to 26 (kg) | BMI over 26 (kg) |
||||||
No more than 3.3 | No more than 2.6 | No more than 1.2 | ||||||||||
No more than 3.6 | No more than 3 | No more than 1.4 | ||||||||||
No more than 4.1 | No more than 3.5 | No more than 1.8 | ||||||||||
No more than 4.6 | No more than 4 | No more than 2.3 | ||||||||||
No more than 5.3 | No more than 4.9 | No more than 2.6 | ||||||||||
No more than 6 | No more than 5.8 | No more than 2.9 | ||||||||||
No more than 6.6 | No more than 6.4 | No more than 3.1 | ||||||||||
No more than 7.2 | No more than 7.0 | No more than 3.4 | No more than 7.9 | No more than 7.8 | No more than 3.6 | |||||||
No more than 8.6 | No more than 8.5 | No more than 3.9 | ||||||||||
No more than 9.3 | No more than 9.3 | No more than 4.4 | ||||||||||
No more than 10 | No more than 10 | No more than 5 | ||||||||||
No more than 11.8 | No more than 10.5 | No more than 5.2 | ||||||||||
No more than 13 | No more than 11 | No more than 5.4 | ||||||||||
No more than 13.5 | No more than 11.5 | No more than 5.7 | ||||||||||
No more than 14 | No more than 12 | No more than 5.9 | ||||||||||
No more than 14.5 | No more than 12.5 | No more than 6.1 | ||||||||||
No more than 15 | No more than 13 | No more than 6.4 | ||||||||||
No more than 16 | No more than 14 | No more than 7.3 | ||||||||||
No more than 17 | No more than 15 | No more than 7.9 | ||||||||||
No more than 18 | No more than 16 | No more than 8.9 | ||||||||||
No more than 18 | No more than 16 | No more than 9.1 |
Using this table, it will be quite easy for a woman with any body mass index, no matter how it is calculated, to understand how much weight she should gain by week and month.
However, the indicated values are just basic, averaged, demonstrating the rate of weight gain at different body mass indexes of the expectant mother before pregnancy.
The rate of weight gain in each specific case is individual., and only careful observation of its dynamics allows the doctor to judge whether everything is okay with the expectant mother and her baby, and whether there are any pregnancy pathologies.
How to exercise control?
The dynamics of changes in the body weight of the expectant mother are monitored at each scheduled visit to the doctor in the antenatal clinic. And here expectant mothers have a lot of questions related to the fact that weighing in the office shows completely different numbers than home scales.
Women should definitely take into account that at home they are weighed in a minimum amount of clothing, while at the consultation they are dressed and wearing shoes, so an experienced doctor will always make adjustments for the pregnant woman’s outfit.
In addition, weighing, despite the apparent ease of this procedure, requires proper preparation, otherwise the scales in the antenatal clinic will show a weight that exceeds the real one, and quite significantly. Before weighing yourself at home or going to see an obstetrician-gynecologist, a woman must remember the rules of proper weighing:
- It is best to weigh yourself in the morning;
- when weighing at home, measurements should be taken on the same day every week, so the dynamics will be more obvious;
- It is advisable to take measurements on an empty stomach;
- home weighing is carried out in a minimum amount of clothing, naked is possible;
- Before weighing, you should definitely go to the toilet and rid your bladder of urine and your intestines of accumulated feces.
If the data on the scales at the antenatal clinic differs by more than a kilogram from home measurements, the woman must have a calendar in which she will indicate her gain, measured according to all the rules at home.
You can take the calendar with you to your appointment and show it to the doctor. In the pregnant woman’s medical record, the doctor draws a graph of weight gain at each appointment. A woman exactly like this can draw on her own at home, this will help to notice in time the periods when the expectant mother begins to gain excess weight, the periods when the weight stops or begins to fall. An uneven schedule is always an alarming sign that should definitely be discussed with your doctor.
A strong and sharp increase may indicate the onset of gestosis, the appearance of internal edema that is not visible upon external examination. If the weight grows slowly and changes little not only by week, but also by month, this may indicate various pathologies in the development of the child, the placenta, a decrease in the amount of amniotic fluid and other unpleasant processes.
What are the dangers of rapid weight gain?
As we have already found out, the norms are individual, but the rate of weight gain is of great importance. Even if a woman has a weight during weighing that fits into the normal range according to the table, but just a week ago the weight was significantly lower, then such an increase, although quite adequate, is unlikely to please the doctor.
It is important that the body weight of the expectant mother increases gradually, smoothly, at intervals acceptable at different periods.
Women tend to underestimate such a criterion as their own weight during pregnancy. On numerous forums for expectant mothers, women often say that the doctor is “terrorizing” them by forcing them to lose weight, and unanimously “competently” advise each other to “not pay attention to it.”
Excess weight during the period of bearing a child is considered to be such an increase in which:
- in a week the woman gained more than 2 kilograms (at any stage of gestation);
- during the first trimester, the expectant mother “gained weight” by 4 kilograms or more;
- if in the second trimester a woman gains more than one and a half kilograms every month;
- if in the third trimester the increase per week exceeds 800 grams.
Excess weight is a very real risk of developing late toxicosis. Swelling can be external, which a woman can easily see herself by the characteristic marks from the elastic bands of socks, or by the inability to put on or remove a wedding ring. Swelling usually occurs in the wrists, face and ankles. But even if there are no visible edemas, this does not mean that there are no internal edemas, which are much more dangerous and insidious.
Normal blood flow in the mother-placenta-fetus system is disrupted due to edema and changes in blood pressure. As a result The baby receives less nutrients and oxygen necessary for its proper development.
Excess kilograms and active weight gain beyond the norm are also dangerous for the risk of premature birth before the 30th week, as well as post-term pregnancy after the 39th week.
Excessive increase in 30% of cases leads to early aging of the placenta, which means that the baby will not receive a large amount of nutrients in the last weeks of pregnancy, which are very important for him in the process of preparing for the upcoming birth.
Extra pounds often lead to the appearance of hemorrhoids, varicose veins, as well as weakness of labor forces during childbirth, as a result of which doctors have to perform an unscheduled emergency cesarean section to save the child’s life.
Why is underweight dangerous?
Lack of body weight during pregnancy leads to various forms of fetal malnutrition. The baby does not receive enough of the substances and vitamins he needs. In 80% of cases in women with too little increase, children are born weaker, with low body weight, severe malnutrition (insufficient amount of subcutaneous fat). Such children have a harder time adapting to the environment, and thermoregulation processes are more difficult for them.
Intrauterine growth retardation increases the risk of congenital neurological diseases, as well as hormonal disorders, the consequences of which can affect any system and any organ in the baby’s body.
Sometimes a small increase or lack of increase is due to the fact that a woman is literally starving and does not have enough to eat. This happens not only in socially disadvantaged families, but also in expectant mothers with a complete lack of appetite due to pregnancy toxicosis. This leads to a deficiency in estrogen levels, and the likelihood of early miscarriage, termination of pregnancy and premature birth in the middle and end of gestation increases tenfold.
Weight gain of less than 800 grams in the first trimester, less than 5 kilograms in the second and less than 7 kilograms in the third trimester, closer to the 36th week of pregnancy, is considered insufficient.
What to do if you are overweight?
If weight is gained too sharply, intermittently, intermediate weighings show that the gain is pathological, the woman is prescribed a hormone test, because in addition to overeating, the reason for such “behavior” of body weight may also lie in hormonal imbalance.
If this version is confirmed, then the woman is hormonal therapy, as a result of which hormonal levels are restored and problems with intense weight gain are solved.
If the reason is overeating and little physical activity (and many pregnant women, alas, are sure that they need to eat for two, and that it is harmful to overload themselves with walking and swimming), then a universal diet for pregnant women is recommended.
The expectant mother should eat 5-6 times a day, every 3-4 hours, with the exception of the time allotted for night sleep.
Single servings should be reduced to such a volume that the amount of food can visually fit in the woman’s palm if she folds it in a boat.
After 28-29 weeks, fasting days are allowed. Once a week, a pregnant woman is allowed to take half a kilo of low-fat cottage cheese or 400 grams of boiled buckwheat, or a liter of fermented milk products, 5-6 times. Sugar and salt are completely prohibited on fasting days.
Depending on how intense the weight gain is, the woman is set the number of calories that can be gained per day. Most often it is 2200-2500 Kcal. Diet food websites have counters that allow you to quickly find out the number of calories in both individual foods and ready-made meals. This will help you easily calculate the menu for the week, month and every day.
The last meal should be taken no later than 2-3 hours before going to bed. All dishes are prepared without frying, deep-frying, or a lot of spices. They also monitor the drinking regime - a woman should drink from 1.5 to 2 liters of clean water per day.
Allowed foods and dishes are cabbage, zucchini, porridge, apricots, watermelon, apples, buckwheat, oatmeal, rice, milk, beef, veal, turkey, chicken, rabbit, cottage cheese without a high fat content.
Prohibited foods - chocolate, baked goods, fatty pork, smoked sausages and fish, everything fried, salted, pickled, peas, beans, semolina, barley, fast food, ice cream, condensed milk, grapes, bananas, canned food (meat and fish) ).
The amount of salt is reduced to 5 grams per day. It is better to give up sugar altogether and replace it with slow carbohydrates (sweet fruits and cereals). Carbonated drinks, syrups, and beer are not allowed.
Special gymnastic exercises, walks in the fresh air, swimming, and yoga come to the aid of pregnant women who are trying to take control of their weight and reduce it. If there are no contraindications, The doctor will definitely advise you to increase physical activity. This will help, together with nutritional correction, to bring the increase to acceptable standards.
Actions in case of insufficient increase
If a woman is underweight or underweight, the doctor will also be required to give a referral for examination by a gastroenterologist and endocrinologist. If a woman does not have gastrointestinal diseases or hormonal problems, she will also undergo nutritional correction.
The calorie content of her daily diet should exceed 2500 – 3000 Kcal. The diet must include butter and vegetable oil, pearl barley and semolina, peas and beans, baked goods, fatty fish and meats.
The ban, as with excess weight, applies to smoked, pickled and fried foods. The rest of the approach to the diet is the same. Preferably split meals, with a normal volume of portions, make sure that the content of fats, carbohydrates and proteins in her diet is sufficient. In addition to correcting nutrition, the doctor prescribes vitamin complexes so that the baby can receive the necessary nutrients from the mother’s blood.
If a woman has severe toxicosis, in which literally “a piece does not fit into the throat,” the woman will have to adapt to this unpleasant state and force herself to eat at least in small portions between attacks of toxicosis.
You should choose moments for this when nausea is unlikely to occur.
Many expectant mothers with painful toxicosis eat in bed at night or try to eat only in the fresh air.
If, along with insufficient weight gain, fetal growth retardation is diagnosed, the woman will have to undergo treatment in a hospital setting, where she will be injected and dripped with the necessary drugs that improve uteroplacental blood flow, vitamins, and will also be given all the recommendations for organizing a high-calorie diet.
Usually, after such measures, the body weight of the expectant mother increases, and, although the average increase is at the lower limit of the norm, it still fits into it. Such a pregnant woman may be advised to have more frequent ultrasound scans to monitor the development of the placenta and baby, as well as to conduct a preliminary analysis of its estimated body weight.
An obstetrician-gynecologist will tell you about important facts about weight during pregnancy in the next video.
An increase in the amount of subcutaneous fat layer of the expectant mother is an essential condition for the safe and full development of the baby throughout the entire embryonic period. Typically, younger pregnant women gain less weight than older women. But carrying, for example, twins or even triplets will significantly increase the weight of mothers of any age. In each of the listed cases, a pregnant woman in one way or another observes changes in her body weight, which is not always the norm.
To determine the weight indicators of a pregnant woman, you need to get used to properly organized weighing:
- It is recommended to measure body weight once a week; you should try to get into the same time period before breakfast, which increases the accuracy of further calculations and dynamic assessment of results.
- Weighing is done after the bladder and large intestine have been emptied.
- The same scales are used.
- Each time, it is best for a woman to weigh herself in clothing specially allocated for this (with subsequent deduction of her weight) or without it at all.
- To facilitate calculations and track body weight levels, it is better to record the results in a special notebook.
The above tips are only advisable if you weigh a pregnant woman at home with her own scales. But if the expectant mother undergoes this procedure only at an appointment with a leading obstetrician-gynecologist, you should visit it at approximately the same hours, and immediately before getting on the scale, empty your bladder again.
Body Mass Index Table
When assessing the results of the obtained body weight values, all specialists and trained pregnant women use body mass index calculation. This technique allows you not only to simplify all calculations, but also to identify excess or underweight with the same ease. Special calculators have been created to calculate body mass index. They contain the following values:
- weight before pregnancy (in kg);
- height (in cm);
- presence or absence of twins;
- date of start of last menstruation;
- weight at this weighing (in kg).
In this way, the increase in body weight produced over a certain period of time from the start of pregnancy is calculated.
In the case we are considering, weight consists not only of the mass of all human organs and biological fluids, but also body fat reserves. In addition to the usual formation of a certain amount of subcutaneous fat tissue, in the body of the expectant mother there is growth of a new organism, which has a constant increase from week to week of its intrauterine development.
Do not forget that to ensure normal fetal development the uterus increases in size, human milk is formed in the mammary glands, the placenta is born and grows, and is constantly present amniotic fluid, fetal membranes and umbilical cord, which also contributes to the level of body weight.
Factors influencing weight gain during pregnancy
- Body weight during gestation is affected by the presence and severity of the fetus, because with it there is an active loss of fluid through frequent vomiting, which leads to dehydration and weight loss.
- Such pathological variants of the course of pregnancy, as well as the presence of severe edema syndrome, contribute to weight gain.
- Gestation two or even three fruits at the same time provides a more pronounced increase in body weight than during a singleton pregnancy.
- , the mode and amount of fluid absorbed during pregnancy has a strong impact on a woman’s metabolism, which indicates a direct influence of these factors on the formation of the fat layer, the growth of the placenta, uterus, the fetus itself and the formation of milk.
Normal weight gain during pregnancy
Normal weight gain during pregnancy by week
How much weight does one gain during pregnancy? In women who have a usual normal physique and correct build, the increase in body weight over the entire period of gestation, according to the obtained dynamic data for assessing the mass index, including the child, should be 10-15 kg. For cases with reduced weight, a normal gain level is considered to be from 12 to 18 kg, with class 1 obesity – from 6 to 10 kg, with class 2 obesity – from 4 to 9 kg.
If a woman is waiting big addition to the family, then the scale of normal weight gain during pregnancy is slightly different from the scale indicated above. For normal body weight, the increase ranges from 15 to 25 kg, for class 1 obesity – from 14 to 24 kg, for class 2 obesity – from 10 to 19 kg.
Thus, the thinner a pregnant woman is, the more weight she can gain while carrying a baby. On the contrary, ladies who are overweight are prone to smaller increases.
Weight gain during pregnancy by week: table
Table of weight gain during pregnancy by week
For the convenience of assessing the results and analyzing the weight gain of a pregnant woman, experts have developed indicators norms of weight gain during pregnancy by week.
They still depend on the type of constitution of the mother and her personal body mass index, but most importantly, they reflect in detail the weight gain for each stage of pregnancy. This greatly facilitates not only the work of leading obstetricians and gynecologists, but also the understanding of her pregnancy by the expectant mother herself.
The change in the weight of a pregnant woman in any case depends on the characteristics of her metabolism, the nature of nutrition and the needs of the fetus, which only confirms the strong individuality of these weight parameters.
For women of normal body weight:
1-17 weeks – gain 2.35 kg;
17-23 weeks – gain 1.55 kg;
23-27 weeks – gain 1.95 kg;
27-31 weeks – gain 2.11 kg
31-35 weeks – gain 2.11 kg;
35-40 weeks – gain 1.25 kg;
for the entire period – an increase of 11-15 kg.
For women with stage 1 obesity:
1-17 weeks – gain 2.25 kg;
17-23 weeks – gain 1.23 kg;
23-27 weeks – gain 1.85 kg;
27-31 weeks – gain 1.55 kg
31-35 weeks – gain 1.55 kg;
for the entire period – an increase of 7-11 kg.
For women with reduced body weight:
1-17 weeks – gain 3.25 kg;
17-23 weeks – gain 1.77 kg;
23-27 weeks – gain 2.1 kg;
35-40 weeks – increase 1.75;
for the entire period – an increase of 12-19 kg.
When carrying a multiple pregnancy:
1-17 weeks – gain 4.55 kg;
17-23 weeks – gain 2.6 kg;
23-27 weeks – gain 3 kg;
27-31 weeks – gain 2.35 kg
31-35 weeks – gain 2.35 kg;
35-40 weeks – gain 1.55 kg;
for the entire period – an increase of 15-20 kg.
Weight loss during pregnancy
Weight loss in pregnant women should be considered by trimester of pregnancy.
- In the first trimester Weight loss is most often an obvious sign of early-onset toxicosis, in which a pregnant woman loses kilograms due to dehydration and the woman’s frequent refusal to eat a full meal.
- For the second and third trimesters The reasons for weight loss are very similar and are expressed in poor nutrition of the pregnant woman (most often due to the fear of gaining extra pounds, which is a completely unjustified and dangerous desire for the unborn baby) or the presence of somatic pathology of any organs or systems.
In any case, a woman should be sure to consult with the gynecologist leading her pregnancy.
Large weight gain during pregnancy is far from safe. The reasons for its occurrence can be considered due to the weakening of fluid excretion from the body, the aforementioned polyhydramnios pregnancy and the presence of hypothyroidism with a reduced release of thyroid hormones into the blood.
If a gynecologist detects the presence of such a large weight gain during pregnancy, untimely and irrational assistance may lead to the development of gestosis in pregnant women and Rh conflict between the baby and the woman.
Of course, these reasons are pathological for both the mother and the fetus. But physiological reasons (for example, the mother’s advanced age and a genetic predisposition to obesity) are no less dangerous in this regard.
Adequate treatment pathological increase in weight during pregnancy is:
- without high-calorie foods;
- in limiting water intake;
- in the most complete laboratory, instrumental and hardware examination of a woman;
- in regular walks and reasonable home physical activity of the expectant mother.
- in the introduction of fasting days.
This type of therapy and prevention of excess weight in a pregnant woman is recommended to be carried out no more than once or twice a week.
A fasting day consists of eating products of the same type and water in an amount of about 1 liter. The expectant mother can experiment and independently decide on the menu for fasting days, however, it is still worth discussing her plans with a leading gynecologist.
Examples of fasting days:
- Vegetable(zucchini or pumpkins with a little sour cream added).
- Apple(a kilogram of fresh apples or baked for 6 meals).
- Fruit(using the same apples, but all fruits according to the mother’s wishes and the doctor’s recommendations).
Video about weight gain during pregnancy
For a more complete overview of the topic weight gain during pregnancy You can watch a video that popularly covers the causes of increased body weight, rules and recommendations for weighing and calculating mass indices, as well as normal values for weight gain during each week of the embryonic period of the fetus.
A general discussion will only help you fully understand the pregnancy weight gain schedule, so feel free to ask and share your own experiences with other people. Your reasoning will help not only you, but also girls and women planning pregnancy, which is important for their moral preparation for pregnancy.
How much weight should you gain during pregnancy? What should a pregnant woman's diet be like?
Our grandmothers believed that a pregnant woman should eat for two. And the faster she gains weight, the better. Modern doctors do not agree with this statement. They believe that the expectant mother should pay attention not to the quantity, but to the quality of food. Because extra pounds are always harmful, regardless of whether a woman is carrying a child or not.
What makes up a pregnant woman's weight?
The baby's weight at birth is from 3 to 3.5 kg. Why, when carrying a baby, do we gain so much more? Weight gain consists of many factors. Including fat, which the female body stores for the baby in case of hunger or cold. But this fat should not be too much, because this weight will only be a burden.
The ideal increase that an expectant mother should gain over the entire nine months is 10-12 kg. Here's how that weight is distributed:
- 3.5 kg - baby's body. This is almost a third of the entire increase
- 600-700 g – placenta. It nourishes and protects the embryo
- 800-1000 g – amniotic fluid. At first there are few of them, but by the end of pregnancy their volume can reach 1 liter
- 1 kg – uterus and fetal membranes. But before pregnancy, the weight of this small organ was only 500 g!
- 1.2-1.3 kg – volume of circulating blood. Its quantity increases in the mother so that she can supply the baby with everything necessary
- 400-500 g – breast tissue. Women's breasts are preparing to perform the function of lactation, and therefore also grow in size
- 3.5-3.6 kg – body fat. This is the same “healthy” fat that is stored physiologically. It not only protects the baby from the cold and insures against hunger, but also has a positive effect on lactation
- 1.4-1.7 kg – intracellular fluid. These are fluid reserves in the body. They help increase blood volume, form amniotic fluid, help start lactation
When does a pregnant woman start gaining weight?
A pregnant woman does not immediately begin to gain weight. On the contrary, in the early stages of pregnancy she may even lose weight. This often happens due to toxicosis, which does not allow the expectant mother to eat properly. Don't panic. In the next two trimesters you will “get” yours.
How much weight should a pregnant woman gain before giving birth?
10-12 kg is the average gain for the entire pregnancy. Most of this weight occurs in the second half of the term. It is then that a woman can gain 250-300 g per week. There are factors that could change these numbers. This is what the doctor pays attention to when assessing the weight of the expectant mother.
- Initial body weight. If you were underweight before pregnancy, then in 9 months you should not only gain the required 10-12 kg, but also make up for the deficiency. As a result, the total increase will be greater.
- Features of the constitution. If you tried unsuccessfully to gain weight before pregnancy, then most likely the gain will be slow.
- Increased appetite. We are used to making fun of the eating habits of pregnant women. But they can also cause uncontrolled bulimia.
- Toxicosis in the early stages. If you lost a couple of kilograms in the first trimester, then the body can “play it safe” and gain more “spare” kilograms
- Child size. Naturally, a large baby itself weighs more. But such a weight of the child may cause the placenta to be larger.
- Age. The older a woman is, the more likely she is to be overweight.
Normal weight gain during pregnancy
Different doctors have different assessments of weight gain in a pregnant woman in the second half of pregnancy. Some believe that 250-300 g is the norm. Excess may signal the emergence of problems: obesity, edema and others.
Others believe that, starting from 30 weeks, a woman should gain 50 g per day. When recalculating for a week, fluctuations are allowed: 300-400 g. But the increase per month should not be more than 2 kg.
To calculate individual weight gain in the last trimester, you can use the formula. The maximum increase is 22 g multiplied by every 10 cm of height. It turns out that for a height of 170 cm this figure is 374 g.
Pregnant weight table by week
The picture below shows a table of the rate of weight gain for a pregnant woman. Where BMI is body mass index.
Excess weight during pregnancy: reasons
Most often, conservative women gain excess weight during pregnancy, who believe that the expectant mother cannot play sports and lead an active lifestyle, but can eat a lot. The reasons for excess weight during pregnancy are the same as in everyday life. This is overeating and lack of physical activity.
If you overeat constantly, your body will become deaf to the feeling of fullness. Hunger will occur much earlier than you spend the stored calories. As a result, you will eat more often and your portions will become larger. This can only be controlled by willpower.
Remember that if you were overweight before, you should not gain more than 10 kg. If your doctor diagnoses you as obese, the maximum gain will be only 6 kg.
Pregnant woman's diet for weight loss: nutritional rules
If you follow a universal pregnancy diet, this should be enough. Any expectant mother, regardless of whether she is overweight or not, should not eat a lot of fried, sweet, fatty meat.
Divide your diet into 5 meals. Dinner should only make up 10% of your entire meal. Moreover, it should be a light dish. You should eat it no later than 2 hours before bedtime.
What should a pregnant woman eat to keep her weight normal?
- Replace white bread with baked goods made from wholemeal flour. It is better if it is dried.
- Avoid baked goods made from puff pastry and butter dough.
- Cook soups using recycled broth or vegetable broth.
- Increase the proportion of complex carbohydrates (cereals), reduce the proportion of simple ones (sweets).
- Eat more fish, but avoid canned food, crab sticks or smoked meats.
- Load up on vegetables, fruits, and berries. Dress salads with vegetable oil, but not with mayonnaise or fatty sour cream.
- Remember that you cannot go hungry. The feeling of hunger can trigger an emergency mechanism in the embryo.
- After birth, the baby's body, remembering the constant lack of nutrients, will store as much fat as possible. This can develop a child's tendency to become obese.
Why doesn't a pregnant woman gain or lose weight?
Sometimes weight loss during pregnancy is not a cause for concern. For example, if you suffer from early toxicosis, it is better to try to wait out this period than to choke on food that does not fit.
Late weight loss may indicate that your swelling is going away. At the same time, there is no need to worry either. Weight loss in the last weeks of pregnancy may be a warning sign of labor. Complex processes occur in the body. Against this background, your appetite may disappear.
Diet for a pregnant woman to gain weight
- Sometimes you don’t feel like eating because you’ve been sitting at home all day. Take a walk in the fresh air, do some exercises, and your appetite will appear.
- Vitamin C increases appetite. Consult your doctor. Perhaps he will advise you to eat ascorbic acid half an hour before meals
- Eat more complex carbohydrates. The weight comes from them. These are porridges, healthy pastries, and breads.
- Instead of dessert, eat nuts and dried fruits. This is a healthy and high-calorie snack
- Don't forget to take your vitamins. Sometimes a lack of a substance can block the absorption of food.
Video: SLIM PREGNANCY
Pregnancy: weight gain.
Pregnancy and weight, pregnancy weight gainWomen always monitor their weight. But there comes a time when doctors begin to monitor this indicator. And the aesthetic side of the issue does not bother them.
Until the 30th week of pregnancy, if everything goes well, the doctor examines the patient 2 times a month, and then once a week. Weighing becomes a mandatory procedure for every visit to the gynecologist and part of the “homework”. It is better to perform it in the morning, on an empty stomach and in the same clothes, so that the results obtained can be compared later.
Weight gain during pregnancy.
In the first 2 months of pregnancy, while the baby and mother are just adapting to mutual coexistence, the woman usually does not gain weight. In addition, at this time she may be worried about toxicosis, which often leads to weight loss. So, in the 1st trimester of pregnancy there is no intensive gain; the expectant mother usually gains 1-2 kg. The main events occur later, because the body weight of the expectant mother increases mainly in the 2nd half of pregnancy, when the weekly weight gain averages 250-300 g. If the process goes faster, this may mean the appearance of a problem - hidden, and then obvious edema (hydropsis of pregnancy).
Let's look at the general rules that are accepted among doctors for calculating possible weight gain during pregnancy. So, during the entire 9 months of pregnancy, the expectant mother should gain 10-12 kg. It is believed that starting from 30 weeks of pregnancy, a woman’s weight increases by about 50 g per day, by 300-400 g per week and by no more than 2 kg per month.
To more accurately determine acceptable weight gain and take into account all additional circumstances, the doctor can use the table (see below). In addition, the doctor has at his disposal a scale of average physiological weight gain in the last 3 months of pregnancy. The calculation is as follows: weekly weight gain should not exceed 22 g for every 10 cm of height. This means that a woman with a height of 150 cm can gain 330 g in a week, with a height of 160 cm - 352 g, and with a height of 180 cm - 400 g.
Weight during pregnancy.
How many kilograms the expectant mother will gain during pregnancy depends on many reasons.
The first of them is age. The older the woman, the greater the tendency to be overweight.
Initial body weight (that is, before pregnancy). It is curious that the greater the weight deficit, the more kilograms the expectant mother has the right to add.
Weight loss due to early toxicosis. The fact is that, having survived the events of toxicosis, the body will try to compensate for the loss of kilograms
Features of the constitution. In this case, it is important whether the woman has a tendency to be overweight or thin.
Child size. If the patient is expecting a large baby (more than 4000 g), then the placenta will probably be larger than average. Consequently, a woman has the right to gain more weight during pregnancy than if she were expecting the birth of a small child.
Increased appetite. It happens that during pregnancy the expectant mother has an uncontrollable desire to eat, and if she cannot restrain it. Problems arise with excess weight.
Now let's see what those 10-12 kilograms of weight acquired by the expectant mother are used for. Indeed, if she gained 12 kg during pregnancy, as recommended, and gave birth to a child weighing 3 kg 300 g, then where is everyone else? They are distributed like this:
* child – 3300g;
* uterus – 900 g;
* afterbirth – 400 g;
* amniotic fluid – 900 g;
* increase in circulating blood volume – 1200 g;
* mammary glands – 500 g;
* adipose tissue – 2200 g;
* tissue fluid – 2700 g.
Total: 12,100 g.
And what can cause “overkill”? Our calculation shows that excessive weight gain depends on various circumstances: the weight of the child (large fetus), the amount of adipose tissue (weight gain with initial deficiency), amniotic fluid (in case of polyhydramnios) and tissue fluid (if fluid is retained in the body) . If the first two circumstances are normal phenomena, then the last two are deviations from the norm and require the attention of a doctor.
Pregnancy: normal weight gain.
Pregnancy and weight, pregnancy weight gain It happens that the expectant mother decides to follow a strict diet in order... not to gain weight. Some people are afraid of ruining their figure, while others (mostly women with narrow pelvises) believe that eating restrictions will lead to the birth of a small child. In both the first and second cases, these arguments are erroneous. If a woman gains 10-12 kg during pregnancy, then with the help of a reasonable diet and exercise, she will definitely regain her previous size. Think about it, for example, ballerinas quickly get back into shape after giving birth, although they usually gain up to 18-20 kg during pregnancy!
You can calculate the acceptable weight gain yourself. To do this, you need to know your height and initial weight, which then turns into the BMI (body mass index). Calculate your BMI: BMI = weight (kg)/[height (m2)]. Results:
BMI< 19,8 – женщины худощавого телосложения;
BMI = 19.8 – 26.0 – women of average build;
BMI > 26 obese women.
Example:
Height – 1.60 cm, weight – 60 kg, BMI = 60/ (1.60)2 = 2.30
It turns out that the woman has an average build, which means that at 30 weeks the optimal weight gain for her will be 9.1 kg, and at 40 weeks - 13.6 kg.
Weight gain table by
Almost every woman preparing to become a mother is overcome by various anxieties, fears and experiences.
In addition to worries about the normal course of pregnancy, concerns about the health of the child and a successful birth, women are also very worried about more mundane problems: many are afraid that having gained a fair amount of extra pounds while carrying a child, they will no longer be able to tidy up their figure or return to their previous shape .
However, wise nature provided for everything. Of course, your body weight will increase over the course of nine months as the baby inside you grows and develops.
Until the very birth, the doctor systematically monitors how your weight changes in order to understand whether everything is in order, because both excessive weight gain and insufficient weight gain pose a threat to you and the baby.
There is no absolutely “ideal” weight for pregnancy, because the rate of its increase depends on the indicators that you had initially. Body weight gain can vary very significantly: within the range of fluctuations - from a slight weight loss to a gain of twenty kilograms and even more.
To avoid pathological weight gain, which will subsequently lead to various complications both during and after childbirth, you need to regularly visit your doctor so that he can monitor your indicators, comparing them with weight gain norms.
This will help you detect the problem in time - excess weight gain or lack of weight, and then take measures to solve it. You can also weigh yourself at home. You need to step on the scale correctly: it is best to do this in the morning on an empty stomach (before breakfast).
How and why does weight increase?
Typically, a woman will not notice significant changes in her weight for about two months.
Your body is just beginning to rebuild and adapt to its new status.
At first, even the opposite reaction is possible, that is, severe weight loss, if you are seriously worried (decreased appetite, severe intolerance to smells and exacerbation of tastes, constant urges of nausea, possibly vomiting). During this time, they usually gain about 1-2 kg.
But already from the second trimester, weight will change much more rapidly: up to 250-300 g per week or 1 kg per month.
With numbers that significantly exceed these indicators, doctors will suspect the presence of serious problems or complications (hydropsis of pregnancy - hidden and).
In the third trimester, in particular, after seven months, the woman will gain even more: about 50 g per day or up to 400 g per week, because the baby is already in full swing preparing for its birth.
So, on average, in nine months you can gain about 9-14 kg, and if twins are expected - approximately 16-21 kg.
However, these figures are only general indicators from which the doctor will base himself. There are also special methods for calculating weight and a scale of average physiological weight gain (for the last trimester).
Factors on which weight gain depends
Of course, the bulk of the gained kilograms is the weight of the baby himself, but it can only be 3-4 kg. In addition, the volume of blood and the amount of adipose tissue will increase, it will become your reserve of energy for future breastfeeding.
Together with the child, the uterus grows and the mammary glands become larger. Also take into account the placenta, umbilical cord volume of amniotic fluid, etc.
Excess may appear if you carry too much or the amount of fatty tissue has increased a little more than necessary. Such deviations from the average statistical data are considered harmless and require only minor lifestyle adjustments (diet, exercise, other doctor’s recommendations). In other cases, we may be talking about pathology (dropsy, etc.).
Here's how the kilograms gained are distributed:
- weight of a newborn baby - 3 kg 300 g;
- weight of the uterus – 900 g;
- volume of amniotic fluid - 900 g;
- weight of placenta – 400 g;
- increase in breast weight - 500 g;
- increase in blood volume – 1200 g;
- mass of tissue fluid - 2 kg 700 g;
- adipose tissue mass – 2 kg 200 g.
Remember that every woman’s body is individual, so it can react completely differently to its new condition.
Moreover, body weight gain is regulated by many factors.
- One of the most important factors is a woman’s own initial weight.
Doctors say that the lower your weight before pregnancy, the more weight you will gain during pregnancy. And that will be okay. But with excess initial weight or even obesity, a woman will have to take very scrupulous care of herself and carefully monitor body weight gain.
- The second important influencing factor is the woman’s age.
Since as the body ages, a tendency to become overweight often appears, the older the pregnant woman, the more likely a significant (excessive) increase in weight is.
- Among other physiological characteristics, the height and body type of a woman should be noted.
A very important indicator will be the constitution of your body (asthenic type - a tendency towards thinness, hypersthenic - towards fullness).
- The well-being of the pregnant woman is also taken into account.
For example, does she suffer from severe toxicosis or, because if at first this contributes to weight loss, then the body will make every effort to compensate for its deficiency. This means that weight gain may be significantly greater than necessary.
Perhaps due to hormonal changes, a woman feels constant hunger or increased appetite. The doctor will have to focus on the fact that you do not need to eat for two, but should carefully monitor your diet.
- Next, we can note the influencing factor regarding the characteristics of pregnancy.
Of course, if she does, then she will gain much more kilograms than a mother of one child. The weight of a pregnant woman who is carrying a large baby will be greater than the average norm.
- Possible complications are also important: polyhydramnios, edema, obesity due to endocrine system disorders.
Such pathologies can significantly increase a woman’s weight, posing an additional threat to her health and the well-being of the child.
Almost all of the above factors can be corrected, because even if you have a physiological predisposition to gaining excess weight, this process can be positively influenced with the help of a balanced diet, self-control and moderate physical activity.
What are the average rates of weight gain at different stages of pregnancy?
In the early stages, it is very difficult to determine a normal weight for each pregnant woman. The rate of weight gain can be absolutely individual: someone begins to gain weight immediately, and then the indicators decrease a little and slow down, someone, on the contrary, walks with almost the same weight almost until the second trimester, and then the weight begins to increase sharply, etc. d.
All these processes are normal, the main thing is that the weight does not go beyond the maximum values.
Approximate weight gain calendar by week
Is it possible to calculate individual weight gain norms?
Many women are so afraid of gaining too much weight that they begin to follow a strict diet, which causes a lack of vitamins and nutrients that the child needs for full growth and development.
There is a way that will help you personally find out your norm. This figure will be different for everyone, because it must be calculated using a special formula.
First, you'll need to calculate your body mass index (or BMI).
To do this, divide two numbers: your current weight (in kilograms) by your height (in meters) squared. This way you will get the maximum additional weight that you can gain during pregnancy without any harm to your own health or the health of the baby.
Weight gain chart
Doctors conditionally divide women into several groups (according to body type), based on their body mass indexes:
- Does the first group include young ladies with a thin build? their BMI averages less than 19.8;
- the second group – women of average build with a BMI in the range from 19.8 to 26;
- and the third? ladies with a large build (BMI - more than 26).
However, if you are pregnant with twins, weight gain will increase. And the norms will be completely different.
Be sure to monitor your weight gain throughout your pregnancy in order to notice possible deviations from the norm in time and take appropriate measures.
Consult your doctor if you have the slightest doubt or concern. The ideal would be a smooth increase in body weight, in which the child develops normally, receiving everything he needs from his mother. Using a specially compiled chart-table of weight gain by week, you will be able to control the increase in kilograms and avoid either excess or deficiency.
Table. Norms for weight gain during pregnancy by week
| sharing pregnancy | Body weight deficiency before pregnancy (BMI less than 18.5), kg. | Normal weight before pregnancy (BMI from 18.5 to 24.9), kg. | Excess weight before pregnancy (BMI more than 30), kg. |
| 4 | 0-0,9 | 0-0,7 | 0-0,5 |
| 6 | 0-1,4 | 0-1 | 0-0,6 |
| 8 | 0-1,6 | 0-1,2 | 0-0,7 |
| 10 | 0-1,8 | 0-1,3 | 0-0,8 |
| 12 | 0-2 | 0-1,5 | 0-1 |
| 14 | 0,5-2,7 | 0,5-2 | 0,5-1,2 |
| 16 | up to 3.6 | until 3 | up to 1.4 |
| 18 | up to 4.6 | up to 4 | up to 2.3 |
| 20 | until 6 | up to 5.9 | up to 2.9 |
| 22 | up to 7.2 | up to 7 | up to 3.4 |
| 24 | up to 8.6 | up to 8.5 | up to 3.9 |
| 26 | to 10 | to 10 | up to 5 |
| 28 | up to 13 | until 11 | up to 5.4 |
| 30 | up to 14 | up to 12 | up to 5.9 |
| 32 | up to 15 | up to 13 | up to 6.4 |
| 34 | up to 16 | up to 14 | up to 7.3 |
| 36 | until 17 | up to 15 | up to 7.9 |
| 38 | before 18 | up to 16 | up to 8.6 |
| 40 | before 18 | up to 16 | up to 9.1 |
Possible deviations from the norm
When doctors talk about growth rates, as a rule, they focus on going beyond the upper acceptable limit of indicators. However, the exact opposite situation is also possible.
Excess weight: the main reasons for deviations from the norm
Excess weight is a rather serious problem.
Triggering factors that can affect a large increase in mass can be the most banal, and indicate the emergence of very serious problems:
- During pregnancy, many mothers notice a strong increase in appetite or constantly feel hungry.
As a result of constant overeating, the hypothalamus (a special center in the human brain responsible for regulating hunger) malfunctions, and your body will need larger and larger portions to feel full. At some point, weight begins to grow rapidly and becomes pathologically excessive.
- If you add to constant overeating the fact that the energy obtained from food is practically not consumed due to a sedentary lifestyle and low physical activity, then you get the second reason.
- Also, ordinary genetics and problems with the endocrine system can be to blame for excess weight.
- A significant increase in kilograms is often caused not by an increase in the volume of adipose tissue, but by the appearance of edema.
This is already a serious cause for concern, because swelling can lead to gestosis and other complications;
- initial high weight or obesity.
Those women who suffer from excess (pathological) weight gain are usually prescribed preventive complex therapy. The most important thing that you will need to do is to keep your weight under constant control: weigh yourself regularly and track all the necessary indicators to see their dynamics.
Your menu should be based on fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, lean or lean meats and fish, dairy products (low-fat), etc.
Eliminate from your diet all fried, floury, sweet, semi-finished and fast food products.
Try to steam and use less spices.
If you are overweight, it is also good to count calories (you can reduce their number to 10%). It is worth monitoring the amount of fluid you drink to prevent swelling. Your doctor may recommend that you do fasting days once a week.
The doctor will also help you choose a set of exercises that will suit your period and individual characteristics. Moderate physical activity will not only destroy excess calories, but will also have a positive effect on your well-being, prepare your body for childbirth, and keep your body in good shape.
Excess weight threatens a pregnant woman with many complications:
- it can cause various health problems;
- cause varicose veins;
- cause serious stress on the spine, as well as the internal organs of a woman;
- cause the development of various diseases (preeclampsia, hypercoagulation);
- there are cases where excess weight provoked the threat of miscarriage or was one of the factors of miscarriage and;
- In addition, there will be certain complications due to the birth of a large fetus, including additional difficulties in postpartum rehabilitation.
For a baby in the womb, your excess weight is fraught with considerable problems, among which are the likelihood of developing certain diseases, a tendency to become overweight in the future, nutritional deficiencies, and much more.
Insufficient weight gain: causes and consequences
In most cases, doctors are faced with excessive weight gain in a pregnant woman, but it can also be the other way around, when a woman gains less than normal or even loses weight.
This situation is also alarming, because it can lead to the fact that the child will not be provided with the nutrients necessary for full growth and development, and this will affect the process of formation of his organs and systems.
As a result, the risk of premature birth, developmental delay or retardation increases, and even spontaneous abortion is possible.
Typically, insufficient weight gain or sudden weight loss occurs in the first trimester. The cause of this phenomenon is toxicosis. Also, disruptions in the functioning of the body are possible if a woman is starving or eating poorly, or follows a strict diet/fasting.
As a rule, with correction of nutrition and after toxicosis disappears, everything returns to normal. True, weight can begin to grow very rapidly. Your doctor will help you balance your diet and gain the necessary body weight. The main thing is to seek help in time to prevent exhaustion of the body or other complications.
Instead of a conclusion
As your baby grows inside you, you may gain weight that is more or less than average. Monitor your indicators yourself, consult with your doctor: if you feel well and all tests show excellent results, it means that your pregnancy is progressing normally and there is no reason to worry.