A recent study led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and published in The Lancet has uncovered a concerning association between excessive pregnancy weight gain and an elevated risk of death from heart disease or diabetes in the decades following childbirth. The comprehensive analysis spanned five decades and revealed potential long-term health implications of pregnancy-related weight gain. While the risk of death was found to increase for individuals across all pre-pregnancy weight categories (underweight, normal weight, and overweight), no such increase was observed for those who had been obese before pregnancy.
Lead author of the study, Stefanie Hinkle, an assistant professor of epidemiology and obstetrics and gynecology at Penn, stated, “We hope that this work leads to greater efforts to identify new, effective, and safe ways to support pregnant people in achieving a healthy weight gain. We showed that gaining weight during pregnancy within the current guidelines may protect against possible negative impacts much later in life, and this builds upon evidence of the short-term benefits for both maternal health and the health of the baby.”
For individuals categorized as “underweight” before pregnancy, but who exceeded the recommended weight gain, the risk of death associated with heart disease surged by 84%. Among those considered “normal weight” before pregnancy, approximately two-thirds of the cohort, all-cause mortality increased by 9% when they exceeded the recommended weight gain. Moreover, their risk of death related to heart disease saw a 20% increase. Finally, individuals categorized as “overweight” had a 12% elevated risk of mortality when exceeding the recommended weight gain, along with a 12% increase in the risk of death from diabetes-related causes.
It is important to note that weight gain during pregnancy does not occur in isolation; factors such as healthcare access, nutrition, and stress can significantly influence it. The research findings, shedding light on the long-term risks associated with unhealthy weight gain during pregnancy, serve as a foundation for future efforts to address this issue comprehensively.
