Pregnant and tempted to dive into the ice cream? While you do need an extra 300 calories a day to support healthy growth and development for your baby, pregnancy isn’t a license to break out the bonbons.

Some weight gain during pregnancy is appropriate. There is such a thing as too much weight gain during pregnancy. There’s also great risk in gaining too little weight.

Your mother or grandmother might be surprised by what’s recommended. There was a time when experts thought that the higher the weight gain, the greater the birth weight of the baby, and that bigger babies automatically came with greater risk of complications. But we’ve come to understand that how much weight you should gain in your pregnancy is unique to you, depending on what you weighed when you got pregnant and other health factors you may be dealing with.

Recent studies have demonstrated that there is great risk associated with gaining too little weight during pregnancy. There’s also great risk in gaining too much weight, too, so it’s important to stay within the recommended range.

Talk with your healthcare provider about these ranges. Work with her or him to devise a pregnancy diet plan that works for you. It’s a challenge to balance the amount of weight gain needed to ensure your health and that of your baby - so it’s important that you engage your healthcare team to achieve that balance.


So, how much weight should you gain? It depends on how much you weigh now. First, go to health4mom.org/calculator and use the BMI calculator to find your body mass index. Then, use this chart to determine the appropriate amount of weight to gain during pregnancy:

Your BMI	Appropriate weight to gain during pregnancy
19.7 or lower	28 to 40 pounds
19.8 to 26	25 to 35 pounds
26.1 to 29	15 to 25 pounds
29.1 or higher	At least 15 pounds