title: Living the statistics.
abstract: 'Obesity'--one of the current buzzwords of maternity care. While embarrassing to admit to, this hot topic meant little more to me than a maze of baffling statistics, BMI (body mass index) calculations and frankly rather vague maternity care guidelines. As an up-to-date and reasonably well-read midwife I recognise that obesity has far-reaching implications for both the mother and her baby. Indeed, the recent Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH): Why Mothers Die Report (Lewis 2007) identified that more than half the women who died between 2003 and 2005 were overweight, with 15 per cent classified as clinically obese. This issue is rated so highly that it even found its way into CEMACH's 'top ten' recommendations for an improvement in maternity care provision.
authors: Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton.
authors: Alice
authors: A
authors: Dale
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008880:Midwifery / Q000379:methods*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009765:Obesity / Q000451:nursing; D011247:Pregnancy; D011287:Prejudice; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support