Studies Assess Weight Gain Guidelines For Twin Pregnancies

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 28 Jun 2010 - 0:00 PDT

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Women who gain less weight than recommended during a twin pregnancy are more likely to deliver early when compared with women who gain the suggested amount, according to a study in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reuters reports.

Nathan Fox of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Associates and colleagues sought to evaluate whether the Institute of Medicine's updated pregnancy weight gain guidelines improved pregnancy outcomes. The new guidelines, released last year, suggest a gain of 37 to 54 pounds for normal weight women, 31 to 50 pounds for overweight women and 25 to 42 pounds for obese women.

The researchers studied twin pregnancies in 281 women, who were mostly of normal weights. They noted that a strong link between weight gain in twin pregnancies and increased rates of early birth "has not been conclusively demonstrated previously."

Fourteen percent of women who gained too little weight delivered before 32 weeks' gestation, compared with 5% of women who gained the recommended amount of weight. The findings suggest that weight gain "could be a correctable cause of prematurity in twins," the researchers wrote, noting that 60% of twin pregnancies are delivered early (Lowe, Reuters, 6/23).

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