ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the pattern of gestational weight gain using maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes. METHODS: We used maternal weight data from 1,825 women who had noncomplicated pregnancy between Jan. 2002 and Aug. 2009. The rate of maternal weight gain in each trimester, the associations between gestational weight gain per trimester and maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes, and the relationship between maternal characteristics and trimester weight gain were analyzed. RESULTS: The average rate of weight gain (kg/week) was lowest during the first trimester (0.06+/-0.30), peaked during the second trimester (0.52+/-0.23), and slowed slightly in the third trimester (0.47+/-0.23). With the exception of infant sex, all six maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes included in the multivariate analyses (parity, maternal age, height, BMI, preeclampsia, gestational DM) were associated significantly with maternal weight gain in at least one trimester. The important maternal predictors of weight gain per trimester were prepregnancy BMI, height and age in the first trimester; prepregnacy BMI, parity and height in the second; and height, age and parity in the third. CONCLUSION: The pattern of gestational weight gain is associated with a number of maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes, and these relationships vary according to which trimester is being examined.