Obesity and Pregnancy – Know Your Risks
- 21 Oct 2019
- #Obesity
- #Pregnancy
- #Women's Health
- #World Obesity Day
Obesity is defined as having an excessive amount of fat in your body and is measured on the basis of your BMI or body mass index. Know all about obesity here.
It is becoming an increasingly prevalent health problem in India and by 2025, 5% of our total population will be obese.
Being obese can increase your chances of developing multiple health issues like high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, certain types of cancer, diabetes, and osteoarthritis among others.
Adding a few extra kilos a year may not sound too harmful, but when these add up over the years due to poor diet and lack of physical exercise, it can become a problem. The best way to know if you’re obese is to know your body mass index and your waist size in inches. The table below will help you know the measures correctly:
Women with a waist size of more than 35 inches and men with a waist size of more than 40 inches have a higher risk of developing various diseases related to obesity.
Being obese can inhibit normal ovulation and can cause a delay in conception. Greater the BMI, higher the risk of getting pregnant. Obese women have a higher level of leptin (satiety hormone), a hormone that helps regulate your body weight, and can affect fertility adversely. Excess weight can also lead to decreased levels of sex-hormone-binding globule (SHBG), a protein that regulates your sex hormones, androgen and estrogen, which disrupts your menstrual cycle and in turn affects your fertility.
Being obese presents multiple complications during pregnancy. Although it is best to eat healthy during pregnancy to provide your baby with the vital nutrients, research shows that obese women who are given diet counselling during pregnancy have had easier and healthier pregnancies.
Obesity can lead to multiple health complications like:
Being obese can lead to a number of health risks for you as well as for your baby.
Staying healthy is a major factor in pregnancy, and there are multiple ways your doctor can recommend for you to lose weight before pregnancy.
Depending on your health conditions, your doctor might suggest specific diets, regular physical exercise, or weight-loss medications.
Women with a higher BMI experience longer labour than women with normal BMI. It becomes difficult to monitor the baby during the period and increases the likelihood of Cesarean delivery. A C-section delivery can lead to health complications and the risk of infection and bleeding.
Your doctor will help you maintain or reduce your weight depending on your pregnancy (single or multiple) and help lower the risk of your baby being affected by fetal macrosomia (a condition in which the baby is born heavier than usual). Based on tests, he or she will recommend the perfect weight plan for you and your baby.
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