Healthcare Literature Review: Obesity Risks During Pregnancy Outcomes

This literature review examines the risks associated with maternal obesity during pregnancy, highlighting its negative impacts on both the mother and child. It discusses how unhealthy lifestyle habits during gestation can lead to obesity, increasing the likelihood of complications such as fetal macrosomia, preterm birth, and developmental delays in children. The review also explores the correlation between maternal smoking habits and childhood obesity, attributing it to impaired fetal genetic programming and altered brain function affecting energy metabolism and eating impulses. Furthermore, the review emphasizes the importance of prenatal care and patient education to address maternal obesity and mitigate its harmful effects, advocating for strategies to prevent pregnancy-related complications such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The review concludes that healthcare professionals should prioritize educating patients about the dangers of maternal obesity and the preventive measures that can be adopted to ensure healthier outcomes for both mother and child.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
Final Literature Review
Name of the Student
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Author Note
Word count- 616

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Introduction- Obesity refers to the medical condition that is characterized by excess
accumulation of body fat to an extent that creates a negative impact on the health and well
being of the person. Individuals are considered obese under circumstances when their body
mass index (BMI) is greater than 30 kg/m2 (1). Obesity has also been found to increase the
likelihood of such people to suffer from various conditions like obstructive sleep apnoea,
cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and cancer. This essay will elaborate on the risks that
are associated with opacity during pregnancy among females.
Literature discussion- Research evidences elaborate on the fact that adherence to
unhealthy lifestyle habits at the time of gestation increases the likelihood of females to become
overweight and/or obese, thereby creating a gradual negative impact on the health outcomes
of both the mother, as well as the child (2). Such unhealthy habits are commonly defined by
lack of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy eating, alcohol consumption, and tobacco
smoking. These habits put their children at an increased risk of developing irreversible and long
term health issues that commonly include obesity, raised blood sugar level, and increased
cholesterol (3). Furthermore, there remains considerable association between obesity among
pregnant females and development of health concerns for the child. One such significant
impact of obesity is foetal macrosomia or large for gestational age that provides an indication
of increased prenatal growth rate. The condition typically manifests in the form of a greater
than 98 percentile increase in length, weight, and circumference of head of a child. This can be
associated with the fact that excessive growth of the foetus acts as a contributor to severe
obstetrical outcomes (4). Therefore, presence of BMI greater than 25 prior to pregnancy, or
higher than 30 during gestation period significantly impacts the child by causing hypoglycemia,

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shoulder dystocia, metatarsus adductus, talipes calcaneovalgus, and hip subluxation. Significant
correlation has also been established between maternal smoking habits and obesity among
children (5).
Increase in body fat among the children can be accredited to effects of tobacco
consumption at the time of pregnancy that creates impairment in the foetal genetic
programming. Nicotine also creates an impact on brain functioning that directly affects energy
metabolism and eating impulses in the children, thus contributing to obesity among them, and
resulting in a failure in maintaining or normal and healthy body weight. This alteration in brain
function creates significant deterioration in the health of the child by increasing their likelihood
to suffer from abnormally elevated blood glucose levels, high blood pressure, and
cardiovascular complications (6). Another major impact of obesity during pregnancy is related
with preterm birth. This generally involves birth of a child that less than gestational age of 37
weeks, and the common symptom includes uterine contraction occurring every 10 minutes.
Increased BMI among the mothers and lack of appropriate nutrition status are associated with
hypertension and diabetes that trigger preterm birth among the infants, and predispose them
to suffer from delay in development, visual, problems, cerebral palsy, and hearing impairment
(7). Furthermore, obesity might also bring about several anatomical issues in the cervix of the
women, thus preventing the child from being completely carried till full term, thereby
increasing risks for preterm birth.
Conclusion- To conclude, presence of maternal obesity increases the risk of the child to
suffer from several pregnancies related complications, and requires appropriate and regular

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prenatal care. The condition acts in the form of a risk factor for preterm birth, diabetes mellitus,
hypertension, developmental delay, and foetal macrosomia among the children. Hence,
healthcare professionals must address this issue by providing patient education on the harmful
impacts of maternal obesity, and the strategies that can be adopted to prevent them.

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References
1. Poston L, Caleyachetty R, Cnattingius S, Corvalán C, Uauy R, Herring S, Gillman MW.
Preconceptional and maternal obesity: epidemiology and health consequences. The
lancet Diabetes & endocrinology. 2016 Dec 1;4(12):1025-36.
2. Bisson M, Marc I. Maternal Fitness and Infant Birth Weight. InDiet, Nutrition, and Fetal
Programming 2017 (pp. 43-53). Humana Press, Cham.
3. Todd A, Street S, Ziviani J, Byrne N, Hills A. Overweight and obese adolescent girls: the
importance of promoting sensible eating and activity behaviors from the start of the
adolescent period. International journal of environmental research and public health.
2015 Feb;12(2):2306-29.
4. Marchi J, Berg M, Dencker A, Olander EK, Begley C. Risks associated with obesity in
pregnancy, for the mother and baby: a systematic review of reviews. Obesity Reviews.
2015 Aug;16(8):621-38.
5. Kapoor D, Kean L. Effects of Maternal Obesity on Maternal and Fetal Health. Current
Women's Health Reviews. 2017 Apr 1;13(1):3-10.
6. Rayfield S, Plugge E. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between
maternal smoking in pregnancy and childhood overweight and obesity. J Epidemiol
Community Health. 2017 Feb 1;71(2):162-73.

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7. Ju AC, Heyman MB, Garber AK, Wojcicki JM. Maternal obesity and risk of preterm birth
and Low Birthweight in Hawaii PRAMS, 2000–2011. Maternal and child health journal.
2018 Jun 1;22(6):893-902.