A Swedish research team has found that mothers who gain weight after their first baby risk serious complications when they get pregnant again.

Researchers looked at 150,000 Swedish women and found weight gain between pregnancies was strongly associated with major problems. Even women who were not technically overweight but who put on pounds after their first birth were at risk.

The findings were based on body mass index (BMI) readings taken of the women at the beginning of their first and second pregnancies. BMI is a measurement that relates height and weight. A BMI of under 18.5 is classified as underweight, 18.5 to 24.9 as normal, 25 to 29.9 as overweight, and 30 or above as obese.

The study found a gain of one or two BMI units increased risk of pregnancy-linked diabetes, high blood pressure or high birth-weight babies by 20 per cent to 40 per cent.

Putting on three or more BMI units produced a 63 per cent greater chance of stillbirth compared with a gain of less than one BMI unit, said the scientists, in The Lancet medical journal. During the course of the study, from 1992 to 2001, the proportion of overweight and obese pregnant women in Sweden increased from 25 per cent to 36 per cent. Source: The Independent

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