Healthy Weight Gain in Pregnancy

Gaining a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy is a natural process to help your baby grow and develop, and to prepare your body for breastfeeding. The amount of weight that you need to gain depends on your Body Mass Index (BMI) before you became pregnant.

Use Health Canada’s pregnancy weight gain calculator to find out your BMI before you became pregnant, and the amount of weight you are recommended to gain during pregnancy.

With most pregnancies, a lot of the weight gain happens in the second and third trimesters.

Where does the weight go?

• Muscle and fat- about 8.8 pounds
• Extra blood, fluids and protein – about 7.7 pounds
• Breasts and energy stores-about 2.5 pounds
• The uterus about -2.5 pounds
• The placenta about -1.5 pounds
• Amniotic fluid about- 2 pounds
• Your baby!!- depends how much your baby weighs-average weight at birth is about 7.5 pounds

Gaining a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy will:

• Help your baby have a healthy start to life
• Reduce your risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery
• Can improve your long-term health

Hot tips for healthy weight gain:

1. Enjoy being active. Aim for a total of 30 minutes of activity daily. Talk to your health care provider before you increase your activity level.
2. Eat as many nutritious foods as possible. Include one or two extra snacks per day to provide the extra calories and nutrients you need.

Reference:

Healthy Child Manitoba- weight gain during pregnancy