Pregnancy Weight Gain – Pregnancy Is Not A Free Ride To Eat What You Want
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Like it or not, pregnancy weight gain is inevitable. Gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy can support your baby’s health – and make it easier to shed the extra pounds after delivery. It is not necessary to “eat for two” during pregnancy.
Your pregnancy may not progress the same as the information found here. The information here is based on the average pregnancy. If you have any concerns about your pregnancy, we advise you to contact your doctor. Tracking your weight during pregnancy is a good way to monitor the progress of you and your baby. It is important to gain weight at a steady pace throughout pregnancy. If a woman does not gain weight throughout pregnancy, complications such as a low-birth weight infant or premature delivery could occur. Babies who are born to mothers who do not gain more than 20 pounds are often considered small for gestational age (SGA), meaning they may have been malnourished during pregnancy. Women who are underweight during pregnancy tend to eat low-calorie foods and not enough protein.
Why is weight gain important during pregnancy? The extra weight you gain during pregnancy provides nourishment to your developing baby and is also stored for breastfeeding your baby after delivery. The amount of weight you should gain depends on your weight before pregnancy. You should gain: 25-37 pounds if you were a healthy weight before pregnancy. 28-40 pounds if you were underweight before pregnancy. 15-25 pounds if you were overweight before pregnancy.
Most women gain four to six pounds in the first trimester, and then average a pound a week in the second and third trimesters. Try to gain slightly over a pound a week in the second and third trimesters. It is ok for your weight gain to fluctuate a little from week to week. This means you should put on one pound every two weeks in the second and third trimesters. The majority of the weight will be fairly evenly spread over the last two trimesters, about a pound a week, with a little more at the end. That translates into about 1 1/2 pounds a week in the last two trimesters.
Let’s look at what needs to happen to stay healthy during pregnancy. Remember, weight loss during pregnancy can be dangerous.
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