Premature Births Linked to Mom’s Obesity

According to the recent studies in the field, more and more obese women give birth of extremely premature babies, at the gestational age of 22-24 weeks. According to the studies, the women with the BMI over 35 have considerably higher chances of having a premature baby than the women with lower BMIs.

Surprising Facts

The specialists have found that the obese women have 58% more chances of having a preemie. A mixed team from the U.S. and Sweden studied about 1,600,000 cases of Swedish moms.

They have found that the women with a BMI over 35 were twice as likely to have a premature baby as the other women. Furthermore, the women with a BMI over 40 were highly likely to have an extremely premature child.

Risks

If a baby is born before term, there are high chances for some of the most vital organs not to be fully developed. If an obese woman gets pregnant the chances of encountering difficulties during the pregnancy multiply very fast. The most common complications include hypertension, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia that can turn into eclampsia, which can lead to seizures.

Premature Babies

If a baby is born prematurely, it is possible that he or she will need a ventilator and they might need to be fed through an IV tube. The sad truth is that about half of all women in their reproductive ages are overweight or obese. However, following a diet during pregnancy is not a solution to the problem.

Help for the Mothers

The specialists all encourage mothers to have a healthy lifestyle. Those who seek help will get personalized exercise tips and a calorie plan so that they will gain as much weight as they need during pregnancy.

Gaining Weight

The women with a BMI of 19-25 are often recommended to gain about 25-35 pounds during their pregnancy. The women who have a high BMI of 30 or even higher are usual recommended to gain less weight, up to 20 pounds. Still there is no case when a woman shouldn’t gain any weight at all.

Real-Life Cases

Jeneen Bufford

She is one of the many overweight women who are worried about their babies. She tried to lose weight by dieting, but now she just wants to have a healthy diet to give birth to a healthy baby. She says that things aren’t about her anymore, but about the little one.

This is the kind of attitude overweight moms should approach during their pregnancy.

photo credit: (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com)

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