By 2010, half of all UK mums-to-be could be above ideal weight and a fifth obese. And women from deprived areas run the greatest risk and are twice as likely to be obese at the start of pregnancy.A team from Teesside wrote in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology wrote that it was a "serious public health time bomb" and a problem that had not been fully appreciated until now. Researchers from the North East Public Health Observatory studied nearly 37,000 women at a local maternity unit over 15 years and found that maternal obesity had risen from 9.9% in 1990 to 16% in 2004. If this trend continues, by 2010, 22% of pregnant women will be obese, putting a strain on maternity services, researcher Nicola Heslehurst and colleagues warn.
Being overweight during pregnancy is a big health risk for both mother and baby. Obese mums-to-be are more likely miscarry, experience pre-eclampsia and dangerous blood clots or need a Caesarean section to deliver the baby, which is likely to be larger itself.
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