We followed a population of new mothers whose infants received well-baby care at Balboa Hospital, Naval Medical Center, San Diego to assess changes in maternal body weight during pregnancy and up to 6 postpartum visits during the baby's first year. We measured postpartum weight and height and obtained information on prepregnancy weight, gestational weight gain, and maternal social and behavioral characteristics by questionnaires and medical record abstraction. In all, we collected data from a racially diverse study sample of 2908 women, who provided data at up to 7 different postpartum time points. We present here a series of cross-sectional assessments of maternal body mass index (BMI=weight/height2) prior to pregnancy, at delivery and at 3 days, 10 days, 2,4,6,9 and 12 months postpartum. Mean body mass index prior to pregnancy ranged from 22.0 for Asian women to 25.0 for African American women. Gestational weight gain did not vary substantially by ethnic group, and all groups showed a decrease in body mass over the 1-year follow-up. However, it appeared that body mass remained higher, compared to before pregnancy, for African American, Hispanic and Native American women, than for white or Asian women. Postpartum body mass at different infant ages also differed according to active duty military status, frequency of exercise postpartum, cigarette smoking, breastfeeding, prepregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain, marital status, age, parity and economic sufficiency. These findings suggest different risk profiles for postpartum weight retention that may be useful in designing interventions to reduce the prevalence of obesity associated with childbearing.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to: 1. Describe weight change patterns by reproductive stage 2. Contrast weight changes by various maternal characteristics 3. Apply these results in programs targeting women at risk for inappropriate weight change associated with childbearing
Keywords: Weight Management, MCH Epidemiology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: none
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.