Gaining weight during pregnancy is important for the health of you and your baby. If you don't gain enough weight, the risks of delivering a preterm or low birth weight baby increase. If you gain too much weight, your baby may be too large at birth and you may experience pregnancy complications. The amount of weight gain that is healthy during pregnancy is not the same for everyone, but depends on your pre-pregnancy weight and current health.
Pre-Pregnancy Weight
If you were a healthy weight before your pregnancy, you can expect to gain about 25 to 35 lb. while pregnant. If you were underweight before getting pregnant, you need to gain 28 to 40 lb. According to MayoClinic.com, if you were overweight before getting pregnant, you only need to gain 15 to 25 lb. If you were obese, you still need to gain weight during pregnancy, but only 11 to 20 lb.
Rate
The rate at which you gain weight is important to provide energy for you and nourishment for your unborn baby. During the first trimester, you should only gain 3 to 5 lb. You may gain less during the first trimester, especially if you experience nausea and morning sickness. The American Pregnancy Association recommends that you gain weight at a rate of 1 to 2 lb. a week in the second and third trimesters.
Considerations
In some cases, you may need to gain more or less weight during your pregnancy. For example, the amount of weight you need to gain increases if you are pregnant with multiples. If you have diabetes or are at risk for pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, your doctor may want to keep a close eye on your weight gain.
Recommendations
To gain a healthy weight during pregnancy, you don't need to eat twice as much food. During the second and third trimesters, you only need 300 extra calories a day. Instead of eating unhealthy food, get the extra calories from nutritious sources, such as a glass of milk and a tuna sandwich. This will help prevent you from gaining more weight than necessary.
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