How much weight you should gain during pregnancy depends on what you weigh when you become pregnant. If you are very thin, you should gain a little more than someone at a healthy weight, and if you are overweight, your doctor likely will ask you to gain less than someone of average weight.
Gaining weight when you are pregnant is a necessary part of the process, although it may be hard to convince yourself of this as you watch the scale inch up. Try to remember that you are helping to give your baby nutrients so it can grow and develop as needed.
According to Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines updated in May 2009, American women with a healthy body mass index, or BMI, should gain 25 to 35 lbs. during pregnancy. Underweight women should gain 28 to 40 lbs., and overweight women will need to gain 15 to 25 lbs. Obese women should gain only 11 to 20 lbs.
Your BMI is based on your weight and height. The National Academies Press recommends this online calculator to determine your BMI: nhlbisupport.com/bmi/.
A healthy BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, an underweight BMI is anything less than 18.5 and an overweight BMI is 25 to 29.9. You are considered obese if your BMI is 30 or higher.
The American Pregnancy Association recommends that women at a healthy beginning weight gain about 3 to 5 lbs. during the first trimester, or first three months, of pregnancy, and gain about 1 to 2 lbs. each week for the remainder.
If you are pregnant with twins, you'll need to gain a bit more overall: 35 to 45 lbs., says the American Pregnancy Association.
An older relative may tell you you're now "eating for two" when you're expecting and you need to eat more, but doctors now say this isn't good advice to follow. While technically true, that second person is a tiny baby who needs far fewer calories than you do. You should consume only an extra 300 calories per day beginning in your second trimester, according to Jaime Foster, an extension associate in human nutrition at Ohio State University.
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