Gain weight the healthy way during pregnancy

Health 10th July 2017

Gaining weight during your pregnancy is natural. But there is a certain amount of weight which is considered as normal. Inadequate or excessive weight gains might successively lead to several disorders and problems.

Gaining excessive weight may result in high blood pressure disorders, which might lead to premature delivery. There are other risks associated with excessive weight gains which include cesarean delivery due to the large baby, physical discomfort, backaches, less accurate ultrasound results. There are high possibilities of postpartum weight retention by the mother. While on the other hand, gaining less than the recommended weight might invite problems such as underweight baby, feeding difficulty and extremely low level of blood sugar. An underweight baby might have to stay in the hospital for a longer period of time as he needs a regular medical supervision.

The healthy scale

The natural and healthy weight gain is the key to safe and healthy pregnancy. The normal and healthy weight gain during the first trimester is up to 2 kg. During the second and the third trimester the weight gain should be up to 2 kg per month.

Pre-pregnancy BMI	Recommended total weight gain
Less than 18.5	12.7 - 18 kg
18.5 – 24.9	11.3 - 15.8 kg
25 – 29.9	6.8 - 11.3 kg
30 or more	5.0 – 9.8 kg

Tips to gain healthy weight

Monitoring your diet is the key to gain healthy weight. Cutting the extra calories during first trimester by terminating fried foods, full fat milk, processed sugars and excessive sugars would be beneficial. However, doctors recommend consuming extra 340 calories daily during the second trimester and 450 extra calories daily during the third trimester. Now here's the catch. You have to find the good calorie source to increase your calorie consumption. These sources could include whole grains, dairy products, vegetables and fruits.

Prenatal yoga is also pivotal for healthy pregnancy. It will help in burning those extra calories and will keep you healthy and stress free. Moderate exercise could be incorporated in your daily routine such as brisk walking, along with meditation..