Being overweight and obese before conception as well as excessive weight gain during pregnancy are associated with a higher risk of developing heart disease later in life, this can also lead to endocrinological risks for the mother and fetus.
In this situation, insulin resistance increases physiologically against tissue, which will lead to additional obesity. An increase in insulin resistance during pregnancy leads to gestational diabetes and can progress to type 2 diabetes. Insulin excess in obesity causes inflammatory processes and vascular dysfunction, which will increase the rate of hypertension and preeclampsia in obese older pregnant women.
Between 14 and 28 gestational weeks, the fetal adipose tissue is developed and the number of fat lobules increases. Research has shown that obesity in the mother Programs the offspring for further obesity and chronic diseases.
Obesity Before Or During Pregnancy
Pregnant women, midwives, doctors, and other healthcare practitioners should be better informed about prevention, pathophysiological machinations, and the burden on society caused by obesity before, during, and after Pregnancy.
Obesity in pregnant women is becoming one of the most important health problems for women. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of almost all pregnancy complications: gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, the birth of large pro-GA babies, and a higher incidence of birth defects, all of which occur more frequently than in women with normal BMI.
Pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and late gestational diabetes are associated with a higher risk of developing heart problems later in life. Whereas, New Northwestern Medicine found that obesity before or during pregnancy is the real main cause of future cardiovascular complications.
Initially, it could not be medically ascertained whether severe pain or pregnancy problems played a major role in the risk of cardiovascular disease years after Pregnancy. This particular multidisciplinary study is the first to address this issue, ultimately establishing that pregnancy pain is a true driver of both poor Pregnancy outcomes and future cardiovascular disease risk. Of the participants that were tracked by this study, almost half of them were overweight or obese from the beginning of the first pregnancy several years after birth.
The study used 4,216 first-time pregnant women prospectively from the earliest stages of pregnancy to an average of 3.7 years postpartum. At the first pregnancy study visit, the mean age of the mother was 27 years 53% had a normal body mass index (BMI), 25% were overweight, and 22% were obese.
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Compared to those with normal BMI at the beginning of pregnancy, those with an overweight or obese BMI had a higher risk of developing hypertensive disorder during pregnancy.
It is generally or medically known that pregnancy is a natural stress on the heart. In the study, researchers tried to know the links between maternal obesity, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and other adverse pregnancy outcomes, and cardiovascular disease several years after delivery.
The hypothesis was that these pregnancy complications were hidden because, as we all know, pregnancy stress is a natural test of the heart. The importance of this finding is that, if pregnancy is responsible for any major pain or risk factors, it Should be supported by intervention.
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According to the study, pregnancy complications like cardiovascular problems shouldn’t only be expected, there ought to be mechanisms to prevent their occurrence. One of the researchers was explicit on weight loss during pregnancy that it is not recommendable, rather counseling and monitoring for effective pregnancy weight gain Should be encouraged.
Meanwhile, studies show that pregnant people can safely limit weight gain during pregnancy by being healthy and exercising moderately or even vigorously. Some major aches and pains before pregnancy are key, hence the reason this research captured trimester zero or health during pregnancy.
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