Gynecology Blog

Weight gain during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester, could increase women’s risk of developing diabetes later in their pregnancy, according to a new study. The study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research appears online in the current issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The three-year study of 1,145 pregnant women from an ethnically diverse population found that women who gained more weight than is recommended by the Institute of Medicine had a 50 per cent increased risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus, also known as GDM. More...

Health experts recommended obese women gain at least 15 pounds during pregnancy. The 2009 IOM guidelines now recommend a weight gain of 11 to 20 pounds. However, some health experts say the new recommendations may still allow for too much extra weight for obese pregnant women. Research shows obese women are more likely than normal-weight women to have pregnancy-related complications, like gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, higher rates of C-section delivery and infant death. Research also shows babies born to obese moms are more likely to have excess body fat and insulin resistance. Thus, the cycle of obesity and health problems may be perpetuated into the next generation. Raul Artal, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist with Saint Louis University says obese women who gain less than 10 pounds while pregnant are much less likely to develop pregnancy-related complications.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is one of 10 programs in the country to receive a $2.4 million grant to establish a scholars program.

The five-year grant, from the federal National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), establishes the medical school as a Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Career Development Center. The initiative promotes research that will benefit the health of women. Scholars will expand research on subjects ranging from women's infectious diseases to maternal fetal physiology to endometrial cancer. More...