Maintaining a healthy weight can help women become pregnant, achieve a healthy pregnancy and improve chances of having a healthy baby. Being a healthy weight before pregnancy can decrease a women's risk of complications, such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, increase the risk of having an infant born preterm and increase a baby's risk of birth or heart defects. Talking to a healthcare provider, staying active and eating healthy foods are activities that can help a person maintain or get to a healthy weight before pregnancy.
Last updated:
February 2024
Data for
Notes: Obese before pregnancy: mother's pre-pregnancy body mass index categories are as follows: underweight (less than 18.5); recommended (18.5-24.9); overweight (25.0-29.9); obese (greater than 30.0). Data for New York City and New York state (excluding NYC) are reported separately. To view state or city data, click on the Location edit button in the search tool on the left and select the state or city from the dropdown menus. For more information about the availability of PRAMS data by state and year, refer to the Calculations page.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Retrieved April 28, 2024, from www.marchofdimes.org/peristats.
In New York in 2021, 31.3% of mothers had a pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) classified as obese.
Obese is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30.0.