Maternal Body Mass Index and Recommended Gestational Weight Gain in a Middle Eastern Setting

Maternal body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) are modifiable risk factors that influence pregnancy outcomes. We examined the association between the two factors in pregnant women in Qatar with regard to the GWG recommendations by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2009.

We performed a population-based retrospective cohort analysis of 3547 singleton births, using routinely collected data from a Middle Eastern hospital database.

The mean maternal age was 29.7 ± 5.5 years, prepregnancy BMI was 27.5 ± 5.8 kg/m², GWG was 9.58 kg ± 6.87 kg and gestational age at birth was 38.5 ± 1.9 weeks. In line with IOM recommendations, we found that higher BMI was correlated with decreased GWG and BMI was significantly associated with GWG even after adjusting for maternal age, parity, and infants' gestational age at birth. Nonetheless, GWG in more than one-third of women who were overweight or obese exceeded the IOM recommendation.