CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 94Gestational Diabetes Research and ManagementObesity, Physical Activity, DietPregnancy and preeclampsia studies

Obesity in pregnancy: risks and management

Open access
Fitzsimons, Kate J, Modder, Jo, Greer, Ian A·2009·Obstetric Medicine
DOI 10.1258/om.2009.090009PMC PMC4989730
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Maternal obesity is now considered one of the most commonly occurring risk factors seen in obstetric practice. Compared with women with a healthy pre-pregnancy weight, women with obesity are at increased risk of miscarriage, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, venous thromboembolism, induced labour, caesarean section, anaesthetic complications and wound infections, and they are less likely to initiate or maintain breastfeeding. Babies of obese mothers are at increased risk of stillbirth, congenital anomalies, prematurity, macrosomia and neonatal death. Intrauterine exposure to obesity is also associated with an increased risk of developing obesity and metabolic disorders in childhood. This article reviews the prevalence of obesity in pregnancy and the associated maternal and fetal complications. Recommendations and suggestions for pre-conception, antenatal and postnatal care of women with obesity are presented, and current research in the UK and future research priorities are considered.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1258/om.2009.090009

Cites

53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 29

  1. [1]1. World Health Organization. Obesity: Preventing and managing the global epidemic. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2000. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. [2]2. Department of Health. At least five a week: Evidence of the impact of physical activity and its relationship with health. A report from the Chief Medical Officer London: Department of Health, 2004. [Google Scholar]
  3. [3]3. Department of Health. The Health Survey for England, 2003. London: The Stationery Office, 1995. [Google Scholar]
  4. [4]4. Department of Health. The Health Survey for England, 2006. London: The Stationery Office, 2008. [Google Scholar]
  5. [6]6. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Obesity. Guidance on the Prevention, Identification, Assessment and Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults and Children. London: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), 2006. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. [14]14. Cedergren MI. Maternal morbid obesity and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome. Obstet Gynecol 2004;103:219–24 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. [16]16. Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health. Saving Mothers' Lives – Reviewing Maternal Deaths to Make Motherhood Safer 2003–2005. London: CEMACH, 2007. a [Google Scholar]
  8. [25]25. Lewis G, ed. Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health. Saving Mothers' Lives – Reviewing Maternal Deaths to Make Motherhood Safer 2003–2005. London: CEMACH, 2007. [Google Scholar]
  9. [27]27. Mulders AGMGJ, Laven JSE, Eijkemans MJC, Hughes EG, Fauser BCJM. Patient predictors for outcome of gonadotrophin ovulation induction in women with normogonadotrophic anovulatory infertility: a meta-analysis. Hum Reprod Update 2003;9:429–49 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. [43]43. Shah A, Sands J, Kenny L. Maternal obesity and the risk of still birth and neonatal death. J Obstet Gynaecol 2006;26(Suppl 1):S19 [Google Scholar]
  11. [44]44. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Committee on Gynecologic Practice. ACOG Committee Opinion number 315, September 2005. Obes Pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol 2005;106:671–5 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. [45]45. Institute of Medicine. Nutrition During Pregnancy: Part I: Weight Gain, Part II: Nutrient Supplements. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1990. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. [46]46. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Evidence-based Clinical Guideline Number 8. The Use of Electronic Fetal Monitoring: The USE and Interpretation of Cardiotocography in Intrapartum Fetal Surveillance. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2001. [Google Scholar]
  14. [47]47. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Green-Top Guideline No. 37. Thromboprophylaxis During Pregnancy, Labour and After Vaginal Delivery. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2004. [Google Scholar]
  15. [48]48. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Green-Top Guideline No. 42. Shoulder Dystocia. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2005. [Google Scholar]
  16. [49]49. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Exercise in Pregnancy. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2006. [Google Scholar]
  17. [50]50. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Green-Top Guideline No. 28. Thromboembolic Disease in Pregnancy and the Puerperium Acute Management. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2007. [Google Scholar]
  18. [51]51. Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. The Peri-operative Management of the Morbidly Obese Patient. London: Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, 2007. [Google Scholar]
  19. [52]52. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Green-Top Guideline No. 45. Birth After Previous Caesarean Birth. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2007. [Google Scholar]
  20. [53]53. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Antenatal Care: Routine Care for the Healthy Pregnant Woman. London: RCOG, 2008. [Google Scholar]
  21. [55]55. Mojtabai R. Body mass index and serum folate in childbearing age women. Eur J Epidemiol 2004;19:1029 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. [59]59. Yu CKH, Teoh TG, Robinson S. Obesity in pregnancy. BJOG 2006;113:1117–25 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. [65]65. Ukleja A. Dumping syndrome: pathophysiology and treatment. Nutr Clin Pract 2005;20:517–25 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. [68]68. Bung P, Artal R, Khodiguian N. Regular exercise therapy in disorders of carbohydrate metabolism in pregnancy – results of a prospective, randomized longitudinal study. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkunde 1993;53:188–93 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. [73]73. Cedergren M. Effects of gestational weight gain and body mass index on obstetric outcome in Sweden. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2006;93:269–74 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. [74]74. Cedergren MI. Optimal gestational weight gain for body mass index categories. Obstet Gynecol 2007;110:759–64 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. [78]78. Gray-Donald K, Robinson E, Collier A, David K, Renaud L, Rodrigues S. Intervening to reduce weight gain in pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus in Cree communities: an evaluation. CMAJ 2000;163:1247–51 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. [82]82. Knight M, Kurinczuk JJ, Spark P, Brocklehurst P on behalf of UKOSS. United Kingdom Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS) Annual Report 2008. Oxford: National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, 2008. [Google Scholar]
  29. [84]84. Baker P, Balen A, Poston L, Sattar N, eds. Consensus Views Arising from the 53rd Study Group: Obesity and Reproductive Health. London: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2007. [Google Scholar] Articles from Obstetric Medicine are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Fitzsimons, K. J., Modder, J., & Greer, I. A.
Affiliations
  • Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health, Chiltern Court, 188 Baker Street, London NW1 5SD
  • University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
  • University of York (GB)
Corresponding author
Fitzsimons, Kate J
ORCID
Fitzsimons, Kate J
Venue
Obstetric Medicine
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2009-05
Volume
2
Issue
2
Pages
52-62
ISSN
  • 1753-495X (ISSN-L)
  • 1753-4968
DOI
10.1258/om.2009.090009
PMC
PMC4989730
OpenAlex
W2144635443
Cited by
94
References
53
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
FWCI
0.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Obstetric Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Gestational Diabetes Research and Management
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies
Keywords
maternal obesity, pregnancy, miscarriage, gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, venous thromboembolism, cesarean section, breastfeeding, stillbirth, macrosomia, preterm birth, congenital malformations, neonatal death, childhood obesity, preconception care, prenatal care, postpartum care, obesity prevalence

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review