Alarming increase of obesity among pregnant women

"The alarming increase of obesity among pregnant women"

"the Proportion of pregnant women who are obese or overweight continues to increase at a rapid pace. Today suffering more than four out of ten women are overweight or obese already in the beginning of her pregnancy. The risk of complications increases for both the mother and the child."

"The last few years, the number of women who are overweight or obese early in pregnancy is greatly increased. The year 2017 had 41.5 per cent of the women who was on the provision of maternal health services with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above. That is to say, they were overweight or obese. The corresponding figure in 2010 was 37.5."

"The regional differences are however large, shows statistics from the national Board of health. In Dalarna and Södermanland counties were half of women are overweight or obese when they were written into the provision of maternal health services, while the corresponding figure for Stockholm was a good third."

"– Normally it tends to be small changes in statistics from one year to another, but among pregnant women it has increased steadily each year. It is really alarming, because the risk of complications for both the mother and the child, are increasing, " says Anna Sandström, rapporteurs doctor and specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Karolinska university hospital in Stockholm."

"there is a clear relationship between overweight and obesity and a number of complications during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and blood clots in the mother, complications at birth, fetal death, birth defects, and miscarriage."

"Screened for diseases"

"TT: Almost just doom and gloom, or what?"

"– not to exaggerate the risk for the individual woman. The absolute risk is still small, but at the population level, the risk increase is significant. We see it here so early in the pregnancy and in relatively young people suggests that obesity and overweight is a real social problem, " says Anna Sandström."

"TT: How should an overweight woman planning to become pregnant the next time to think?"

"– You should get help to lose weight before pregnancy to reach a normal BMI. If you are overweight, you should also be checked for diseases that are associated with complications, such as high blood pressure and diabetes."

"in Addition, she says, the woman should think about getting enough folic acid, because obesity impairs the absorption of folic acid and deficiency of folic acid increases the risk for a certain type of birth defects."

"– If one goes down also increases the chances to get pregnant at all. Usually it is sufficient with a relatively small loss for the chance to increase quite dramatically, " says Anna Sandström."

"TT: And if I'm already fat and pregnant?"

"– It looks a bit different in different counties, but there are guidelines that you should get extraordinary visits where you get to meet a doctor and a dietician and extra barnmorskebesök in the beginning of pregnancy for motivational interviewing. If you have a significantly elevated BMI should also be checked for gestational diabetes and, possibly, tillväxtultraljud, " says Anna Sandström."

"the Statistics also show that the average age for first-time mothers by the year 2017 was 28.7 years. The highest average age had förstföderskorna in Stockholm county, where the year 2017 was 30.3 years. Lowest in Gävleborg and Kalmar county: 27,3 years."

"the Proportion of caesarean section continues to be a high of 17.3 percent."

"the BMI is an abbreviation of the English"

"It is a method that, on the basis of weight and height to calculate if a person is over-, normal - or underweight."

"It is calculated by body weight in kilograms divided by the square of body length, expressed in metres."

"the Result should be at normal weight to be between 18,5 and 24,9, but varies somewhat between ethnic groups. Overweight means a BMI between 25,0 and 29,9. At a BMI of 30,0 classified you as fat."

"For children and young people applies to other limits, which vary with age."

"Source: NE, the National"