Pregnancy of obese women: Maternal consequences

Overweight and obesity have been associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. This risk of obesity-relaited maternal gestational complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes could be followed upon a reproductive timeline. The goal of obesity treatment is to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. It has been shown that even small decreases in BMI, can improve women's health status and reduce the risk for some pregnancy complications as well as long-term consequences such as worsening of maternal obesity, maternal type 2 diabetes, and childhood obesity and metabolic disorders. Maternal complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes during the pregestational, antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum periods are comprehensively discussed in this chapter. Optimal management of obesity in reproductive-age women includes preconception counseling, pregravid weight-loss programs, monitoring of gestational weight gain, repeated screening for pregnancy complications and long-term follow-up to minimize the social and economic consequences of pregnancy in overweight women.