Healthy Weight

Weight gain is an important part of having a healthy pregnancy. Gaining a healthy amount of weight helps support the pregnancy changes your body goes through and helps your placenta and baby grow. Too much or too little weight gain in pregnancy can raise your risk of complications. Gaining too much weight raises the risk for having a larger baby, gestational diabetes, cesarean section and high blood pressure. Not gaining enough weight may put the baby at risk for low birth weight and being born preterm. The ideal amount of weight to gain varies from woman to woman and depends on your Body Mass Index (BMI) before pregnancy. You likely will not gain much weight in the first trimester of your pregnancy, especially due to any nausea and vomiting you may have. This should change as your pregnancy progresses. Here are several resources to help you figure out how much weight is most healthy to put on and how to do it.  

• HealthyFamiliesBC - Pregnancy weight gain in the first trimester
• Pregnancy Info -  Weight gain during pregnancy
• The MotHERS Program - Information on optimal weight gain during pregnancy
• Health Canada - Pregnancy weight gain calculator