Gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy is important. It can help protect your health and the health of your baby.
Why is weight gain during pregnancy important?
If you gain too little weight during pregnancy, you’re more likely than other women to have a preterm baby or a baby with low birthweight.
If you gain too much weight during pregnancy, you’re more likely than other women to:
- Have a preterm baby. Preterm babies may have health problems at birth and later in life.
- Have a baby with fetal macrosomia. This is when your baby is born weighing more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces. Having a baby this large can cause complications, such as problems during labor and heavy bleeding after birth.
- Need a c-section.
- Have trouble losing weight after your baby’s birth. This can increase your risk for health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
How much weight should you gain during pregnancy?
This depends on your health and your body mass index (also called BMI) before you get pregnant. BMI is a measure of body fat based on your height and weight. To find out your BMI, use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) calculator. Your provider will use your BMI before pregnancy to determine how much weight you should gain during pregnancy.
In general, if you’re pregnant with one baby:
- If you were underweight before pregnancy, you want to gain about 28 to 40 pounds during pregnancy.
- If you were at a healthy weight before pregnancy, you want to gain about 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy.
- If you were overweight before pregnancy, you want to gain about 15 to 25 pounds during pregnancy.
- If you were obese before pregnancy, you want to gain about 11 to 20 pounds during pregnancy.
If you’re overweight or obese and are gaining less than the recommended amounts, talk to your provider. If your baby is still growing well, your weight gain may be fine.
Gaining weight slowly and steadily is best. Don’t worry too much if you don’t gain any weight in the first trimester or if you gain a little more or a little less than you think you should in any week. You may have some growth spurts—this is when you gain several pounds in a short time and then level off. Don’t ever try to lose weight during pregnancy.
Just thinking about getting pregnant?
If you’re thinking about getting pregnant, remember that it’s best to start your pregnancy at a healthy weight. You can make sure you’re at a healthy weight at your well-visit checkup (which can also be your preconception checkup). Did you know that your well-visit checkup is a preventive service and is covered by most insurance plans with no extra cost to you? Ask your health care provider for more information.