[Advising Women to Avoid Excessive Gestational Weight Gain: What do Pregnant Women Think?]

Gestational weight gain above the IOM recommendations is a risk factor for both pregnancy complications and maternal and childhood overweight. Therefore, pregnant women should be advised about their weight gain. Do these women have special specific needs? A total of 34 pregnant women were interviewed. Using Mayring's frequency analysis, we found that these pregnant women were not aware of health consequences of excessive weight gain. Furthermore, we identified 4 main types of nutritional behavior: (i) women who are informed but do not put into practice their knowledge, (ii) women who adhere strictly to recommendations, (iii) women who are led by their physical feelings and (iv) women mostly indifferent. Women who were physically inactive before pregnancy did not start exercising in pregnancy. There are still information gaps on weight gain and healthy eating that have to be considered for future interventions. According to women's behavioral patterns, interventions might yield varying results. According to women's type of behavior, interventions might yield different success rates. Motivation and providing information on suitable exercise forms during pregnancy are challenging.