What it is
How much weight should you gain, are you gaining too much, or not gaining enough: the scale at each visit raises the question. The gain is the baby, the placenta, fluid, more blood, and a store of fat for feeding. The ranges ACOG uses depend on your weight before pregnancy. For a mother in the middle BMI range, that is about 25 to 35 pounds. It is 28 to 40 if you started underweight, 15 to 25 if overweight, and 11 to 20 if obese.
What's typical
Most mothers gain little in the first trimester. Then about a pound a week, or half a pound if the target is lower. Gain is rarely even. Sudden gain of several pounds in a week, with swelling, is not about food.
What's known
ACOG says gain within the range is linked to fewer complications, but the ranges are guides, not grades. Dietitians like Lily Nichols point out that the ranges came from averages, not from any one body.
What helps
- Ask to be weighed without hearing the number, or to discuss the trend only.
- Eat to hunger, with protein and fat at each meal. That steadies appetite more than counting does.
- If the number is causing distress, say so to your provider or a therapist.
When to call someone
- Nowsudden gain of more than 3 to 5 pounds in a week with a headache, vision changes, or swelling of the face and hands.
- Todaylosing weight after the first trimester, or vomiting that keeps you from eating.
- At your next visitgain far above or below the range for several visits, or eating that has become a source of fear.
Who helps
Tools: Postpartum Meal Planner
Related
- What to eat in pregnancy: the short versionPregnancy: Eating
- Your changing body and how you feel about itPregnancy: Mind and Life
- Gestational diabetesPregnancy: Your Body
- Nausea and vomiting in pregnancyPregnancy: Your Body
- Your body after birth: weight, shape, and timelinesPostpartum: Your Body
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Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Committee opinion on weight gain during pregnancy
- National Academies (Institute of Medicine) — Weight gain during pregnancy: reexamining the guidelines
- Lily Nichols RDN — Real Food for Pregnancy
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