If you are planning a pregnancy, attaining a healthy weight can help increase your chances of falling pregnant. Additionally, a healthy weight during pregnancy reduces the risk of pregnancy complications and even birth defects.
Being Overweight Can:
- affect fertility and take longer to conceive for females due to problems with hormone levels affecting the menstrual cycle and egg quality
- for males can reduce the quality of sperm1
Pregnancy risks associated with overweight or obese females included:
- Miscarriage
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
- pre-eclampsia
- gestational diabetes
- infection
- blood clotting
- medical intervention to induce labour
- making natural deliveries more difficult and resulting in a caesarean birth
- premature birth resulting in longer hospital stays for newborns or lasting effects such as behavioural issues or developmental delays
- stillbirth 1
Compared to babies born to mother in the healthy weight range, babies born to women who are obese are more likely to:
- be a larger than normal birth weight
- after birth, need intensive care
- during delivery, suffer shoulder or arm injuries
- increased risk of a birth defect – obesity doubles the risk of some conditions like spina bifida2
- be overweight or develop type 2 diabetes
- https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/clinical-practice-guidelines-management-overweight-and-obesity
- https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/142309/g-obesity.pdf
