Weight Gain During Pregnancy

Weight gain during pregnancy is a normal and natural change. Expectant women need to embrace this issue positively to avoid endangering the life of the unborn infant. They must also avoid being underweight for their own health’s sake. Gaining weight is very important during pregnancy, and mothers-to-be should have an exercise and diet program. Generally, the pregnancy period is divided into three trimesters made up of three months each.

A woman must gain a given quantity of weight every trimester to support the growth and development of the unborn baby. Programmed weight gain guarantees that a mother will shed excess fat after child birth easily. Also, this controlled procedure lowers the chances of a mum suffering certain problems such as backache, loss of breath, stretch marks, fatigue, haemorrhoids and so on.

This regulated program for weight gain during pregnancy is different because pregnant women are of course different. It is usually based on a woman’s Body Mass Index. A person is considered to be underweight if her BMI is below 18.5. Such a lady should gain around 12.5 to 18 kilograms during pregnancy. A normal mother’s BMI is between 19 and 14.9 and she has to gain between 11.5 and 16 kilograms. An overweight mum’s BMI is between 25 and 29.9 and she must put on 7 to 11.5 kilograms.

Anyone with a BMI range between 30 and above is obese and has to add very little weight. The above guide pertains to women expecting single babies. If you are expecting twins or even more babies, you have to add more weight based on your BMI level. Even an obese woman should add a little bit more for the sake of the growing babies. The main thing is planning how to gain it throughout the three trimesters.

Weight gain during pregnancy should be systematic and safe. During the first trimester, the recommended gain is between 1.3 and 1.8 kilograms and during the second one it is between 5.5 to 6.5 kilograms. In the final trimester, you have to gain between 3.5 and 4.5 kilograms. These are just figures based on average parameters. A woman can grow very big during any of the three terms or even shed weight depending on her health condition.