Comparison of Gestational Weight Gain Recommendations between Study from Thai Population and U.S. Institute of Medicine

Abstract

Objective:  To identify which recommendations of weight gain aresuitable for Thai pregnant women to deliver a normal birth weight neonate.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was performed by reviewing 1,657 medical records of singleton pregnant women who delivered normal birth weight healthy neonates at Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Prapokklao Hospital during July 1^st, 2013 – June 30^th, 2014. Pre-pregnancy BMI was categorized according to U.S.Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2009. Gestational weight gain and pregnancy outcomes were compared using IOM and Thai Siriraj Hospital recommendations. One-way ANOVA was used to compare continuous data and Chi-square test was used to compare discrete data among two groups.

Results: Mean gestational weight gain of our population in underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese groups were 13.73±5.43 kg, 13.52±5.63 kg, 11.35±5.65 kg, and 8.81±7.41 kg, respectively. Significant difference of maternal age, pre-pregnancy BMI, gestational weight gain and neonatal birth weight were found among groups (p<0.001). About one-third of both underweight group and normal weight group gained the appropriate weight based on the IOM recommendations whereas two-thirds of both groups gained the appropriate weight using Thai Siriraj recommendations. While the performances of both sets of recommendations were similar in obese women, the Thai Siriraj recommendations performed better in the overweight group, In total, 56.3% of women and 34.8% of women could gain weight within the recommendations of Thai Siriraj and IOM respectively while the neonatal outcomes of both groups of women were comparable.

Conclusion:   Thai Siriraj recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy appear to be more suitable for our population than the U.S. IOM ones.