It’s common knowledge that our health is affected by being overweight. The cost to the individual and society generally is accelerating alarmingly. It’s now devastating to hear that the unborn baby has been found to be at risk because of the mother’s excess weight.
No guilt trip intended  by me – I simply state the facts according to Sonja Rasmussen MD of the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities who has reported her study findings online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Compared to other women near normal weight, overweight women for giving birth to a child that has a far greater chance of giving birth to a baby with a heart defect.  About 36,000 babies in US are born with congenital heart defects every year.  However women who were classified as overweight at the child’s conception, (with BMI of over 25 but less than 35), were found to have a 15% increased risk. However, as weight increased, so do risks. For women classified as obese, BMI over 35, the increased risk jumped to 30%.
I understand that that congenital heart defects are one of the most common types of birth defects, occurring in about 1 out of every 125 pregnancies.

It goes without saying that women (and indeed men) should maintain a healthy weight, and lifestyle prior to having children. If necessary begin a weight-loss plan, if not for themselves, for their unborn baby.

Weight Wise Man

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