Weight management during and after pregnancy: A multi-disciplinary approach

The Specialist Weight Management Service (SWMS) Maternity Pathway was launched in January 2012 as a result of growing public health issues surrounding obesity and the production of NICE Guidelines for weight management before, during and after pregnancy (PH27). Our unique NHS service is aimed at pregnant women with a BMI>35 and supports them with introducing healthy lifestyle changes during pregnancy and safely minimising weight gain in this period. We also actively encourage service users to re-engage with the integrated SWMS pathway for up to 18months post-partum. The majority of referrals are received directly from midwives, and women can also self-refer. Pregnant women who come to our service are seen in multi-disciplinary clinics by a Dietitian, Physiotherapist and Health-Improvement Midwife. The service-users can also access Occupational Therapists, Medical Consultants and Health Trainers if required. Our staff use a patient-centred behavior change approach, often adopting motivational interviewing techniques to help engage patients with implementing positive lifestyle changes. The pathway also helps expectant mothers and their wider families access other services including smoking cessation, breastfeeding networks and healthy-start services to name a few. Plans are in place to launch an outreach service to the more deprived areas of the Borough, where drop-in sessions will be held at accessible locations to improve engagement of pregnant women in these areas. We believe that this multi-disciplinary approach to weight management is unique, and early statistics indicate that the support we offer pregnant women during the ante and post natal period are a success in terms of key outcome measures.