Hypertension

Preeclampsia Risk Is Associated With Pregnancy Weight Gain

A new study has found that women who gain more weight during pregnancy are significantly more likely to develop preeclampsia.1

This finding comes after an electronic medical record analysis of 62,705 first-time moms in 2 Swedish counties from 2008 to 2013.

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The researchers categorized women by early pregnancy body mass index and date of preeclampsia diagnosis (early preterm <34 weeks, late preterm 34-36 weeks, or term ³37 weeks).

Pre-pregnancy weight gain was measured and standardized into gestational age-specific z scores.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that 2770 (4.4%) women had developed preeclampsia over the term of their pregnancy.

In women with a normal weight or those who were overweight before pregnancy, every 1 z score increase in pregnancy weight increased their risk of preeclampsia by about 60%. For women who were obese before pregnancy, the risk increased by 20%.

“Our study found that high pregnancy weight gain in the second half of pregnancy increases a woman’s chance of developing preeclampsia—and this risk is most pronounced in women who were leaner at the start of their pregnancy compared with women who were overweight or obese at the start of pregnancy,” said Jennifer Hutcheon, lead author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.2

—Amanda Balbi

References:

  1. Hutcheon JA, Stephansson O, Cnattingius S, Bodnar LM, Wikström AK, Johansson K. Pregnancy weight gain before diagnosis and risk of preeclampsia [published online June 18, 2018]. Hypertension. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.10999.
  2. Higher weight gain in first-time pregnant moms could boost chance for dangerous condition [press release]. American Heart Association; June 18, 2018. https://news.heart.org/higher-weight-gain-in-first-time-pregnant-moms-could-boost-chance-for-dangerous-condition/. Accessed June 18, 2018.

 

 

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