Kilo counting

There is really no ‘ideal weight’ gain

People will obviously vary – just as metabolism (which is the body function of ‘burning off the calories’) varies from one person to another. How much you should gain will depend a lot on your pre-pregnancy weight and height, your metabolism and your level of activity. The range of normal weight gain in pregnancy is large, some women gaining very little, others anything up to 23kgs. But rather than worrying too much about precisely how much, or how little you have gained, the important thing is that you should eat well. See Healthy eating in pregnancy. If you take a full and balanced diet then, usually, ‘nature’ will take care of the rest.

There are disadvantages if you’re at the limits of weight gain

A very low weight gain tends to be associated with premature birth and lower birth weight babies – especially, if associated with smoking, poor diet, and alcohol or drug abuse. However, if you are a non-smoker, healthy, and having a good nourishing diet, your baby’s weight will not increase simply because you start eating more.

If you are at the upper end of the weight scale – gaining a lot of weight by the end of your pregnancy – you are more likely to develop some of the problems and complications associated with pregnancy and labour. These include ‘heart burn’ and indigestion, tiredness, breathlessness, varicose leg – and vulval – veins, haemorrhoids (piles), low back pain and increased joint pains and, more importantly, diseases like increased blood pressure (with the added possibility of pre-eclampsia) and pregnancy-induced diabetes. Women who are overweight in pregnancy do tend to have slightly larger babies.

Now, for all of those who would like to learn what happens to your weight, and why, here – despite my earlier comments – are some figures for you.