Only 25 percent of women receive appropriate advice on pregnancy weight gain

A new study of the role of healthcare provider recommendations on weight gain during pregnancy showed that while provider advice did influence gestational weight gain, only about one in four women received appropriate advice and another 25% received no advice. The impact of provider recommendations for pregnancy weight gain that are consistent with current Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines is reported in an article published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website.

The article entitled "Achieving Appropriate Gestational Weight Gain: The Role of Healthcare Provider Advice" was coauthored by Nicholas Deputy, PhD, MPH, Andrea Sharma, PhD, MPH, Shin Kim, MPH, and Christine Olson, MD, MPH, Emory University, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps., Atlanta, GA. The researchers examined associations between healthcare provider advice -- whether it was received or not, and whether it was consistent with IOM recommendations, above, or below -- and likelihood of inadequate or excessive weight gain during pregnancy. The authors also considered the pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) of the study participants.

"This study by Deputy et al. highlights the importance of healthcare providers as a crucial source of guidance on appropriate weight gain during pregnancy, which is of utmost importance to maternal and fetal health," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health. "It is essential that provider advice be consistent with the most up-to-date recommendations and best practices. These findings can be extrapolated beyond weight gain to other aspects of a healthy lifestyle that can impact pregnancy."