Pregnancy Weight Gain, Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure of Pregnant Women in Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

Recent reports have shown that inappropriate gestational weight gain has direct effect on both maternal health and fetal growth, and that the prevalence of higher gestational weight has been increasing. The present study was designed to examine the levels of changes in women due to pregnancy. The parameters examined include pregnancy weight, pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP). The sample included 337 women from four different hospitals in Zaria, age between 15-50 years. There was a gradual increase in the means of the weight from week 14 (54.33+13.5) to term (70.65+13.15). There was a significant increase in weight and BMI (P<0.001) as pregnancy advances towards term, however blood pressure, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure did not show any significant difference. Correlation analysis indicated significant relationship between BMI, blood pressure parity and birth weight with P<0.05 and P<0.001 respectively. The study showed that pregnancy significantly increased body weight gain, BMI, but not BP.