Gaining Too Much Weight During Pregnancy Nearly Doubles Risk of Having a ...(shington Oregonand Hawaii from 1995-2003...),Health

At greatest risk were the women who gained more than 40 pounds and also had gestational diabetes; nearly 30 percent of them had heavy babies. That risk was significantly reduced -- to only 13 percent -- when women with gestational diabetes gained less than 40 pounds.

"The take-home message is that all pregnant women need to watch their weight gain, and it is especially important for women who have risk factors like gestational diabetes," Dr. Hillier said.

The study was funded by a grant from the American Diabetes Association. Authors include Teresa Hillier, MD, MS; Kathryn L. Pedula, MS; and Kimberly K. Vesco, MD, MPH, from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland; Mark M. Schmidt, BA, and Judith A. Mullen, APRN, from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Hawaii; Erin S. LeBlanc, MD, MPH, from Oregon Health & Science University; and David J. Pettitt, MD, from the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif.

About the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research

Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research, founded in 1964, is a nonprofit research institution dedicated to advancing knowledge to improve health. It has research sites in Portland, Ore., Honolulu, Hawaii and Atlanta.

About Kaiser Permanente Research

Kaiser Permanente's eight research centers comprise one of the largest research programs in the United States and engage in work designed to improve the health of individuals everywhere. KP HealthConnect(TM) , Kaiser Permanente's electronic health record, and other resources provide population data for research, and in turn, research findings are fed into KP HealthConnect to arm phys
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