Body Mass Index (BMI) for Pregnancy | Dr Kaushiki Dwivedee

Body Mass Index (BMI) for Pregnancy

Being overweight or underweight can reduce fertility, so it is important to keep your body weight within the normal healthy range. Body Mass Index (BMI) is an indication of your body weight and can be calculated by dividing the weight by height. You should aim for a BMI of between 20 and 25, as this will optimise your chances of conception.

A BMI below 19 in a woman in calorie deficit state the body senses famine and ovulation is switched off to prevent the risk of having a baby with malnutrition. Excessive exercise can reduce body fat and increase muscle mass to a point where periods cease for the same reason. Risk of miscarriage is also increased in low BMI women.
Having a BMI greater than 30 can reduce fertility by 50%. Pregnancy for women with a 30 plus BMI is often associated with problems such as maternal diabetes, high blood pressure, big babies and increased risk of caesarean section.

The good news is that as soon as you get back on track with your body weight, ovulation and fertility quickly return to normal. Even a minimal weight loss (less than 5% of body weight) can make a difference, therefore advice with weight and its management is an important part of fertility treatment.

For men, being slightly overweight may also reduce sperm count, so men should also make an effort to keep their BMI within the normal range.

Pregnancy is not an easy journey, and you will be at risk of complications as it progresses, but not every woman has this problem. However, if you are overweight or have gained weight, you may have some problems during pregnancy or giving birth. It is essential to understand the normal BMI for pregnancy as it is directly related to obesity. It increases the chances of having an unborn baby, or you may even have to have a cesarean instead of a normal delivery.

What is Body Mass Index (BMI)?

The concept of BMI has been around for a long time in healthcare and medical science.  Recently its importance has increased, and it is considered essential to understanding health.  BMI is a simple math formula that uses different parameters, such as underweight, normal, or overweight, to understand weight at a medical level.  BMI score according to body mass index helps to find out whether your body fat is correct according to height and weight.  The simple formula to calculate this score is to convert the weight to kilograms and divide the centimeters by the square of the height.

Does BMI indicate true health?

Even after the BMI is overused, it may not really describe your health problems.  According to a recent study, the BMI score of some people is matched with the actual value of other health markers, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar level, etc. It has also been observed that many women who are more healthy than this line are called overweight according to their BMI. On the other hand, those who have a correct BMI score may have various health-related problems elsewhere.

Every person in the world has a different body structure and muscle composition, and it is difficult to find out the muscle fat separately using math formulas. With the help of today’s increasing technology, this gap has been helped to reduce, and accuracy has also been concluded. One’s health can be easily ascertained from the height up to the waist because most of the fat in the body lies in the waist and other essential organs, such as the kidney, liver, and heart.

How is BMI Calculated During Pregnancy?

Calculating BMI during pregnancy is not difficult. All you need to do is to find out from the doctor how much your pregnancy weight is.  Once you find it, you can find out your exact weight. This will be useful in calculating your BMI. Based on this, increasing weight in every trimester is considered healthy. In the beginning, your weight should increase by half a kilo every month. From the second quarter, it will increase twice as fast as before, and in the third quarter, this weight may increase quadruple faster than the first quarter.

Can BMI change from normal to obese during pregnancy?

BMI is a score that is calculated based on body weight and height. During pregnancy, your weight increases, and your height remains the same.  As a result, your BMI score increases, due to which you can become overweight or obese due to pregnancy. This is not a cause for concern as long as you gain weight healthy as described in early pregnancy.

Complications in Pregnancy Due to Obese BMI

Having a high BMI in the third trimester or any stage of pregnancy increases your chances of complications, especially if your score is over 30. It can have several possibilities like the following;

• Birth of a dead child
• Having a cesarean delivery instead of a normal or vaginal delivery.
• Having an infection
• Urinary tract infection or kidney problems.
• Having problems with blood clotting.
• There is a possibility of heavy bleeding at the time of delivery.
• An increased risk of complications from anesthesia.
• Having many problems related to birth in the child.
• Being obese makes it difficult to see the baby in the ultrasound.
• There are high chances of getting diabetes during pregnancy.