title: Weight after childbirth: a 2-year follow-up of obese women in a weight-gain restriction program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of a weight-gain restriction program on weight development or weight maintenance 2 years after childbirth.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control intervention study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Antenatal care clinics in the southeast of Sweden.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty-five obese pregnant women who participated in a weight-gain restriction program with weekly support during pregnancy and every 6 months during the two first years after childbirth. The control group consisted of 193 obese pregnant women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Follow-up weight measurements were done at 12 and 24 months after childbirth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Weight change in kilogram at 12 and 24 months postpartum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A greater percentage of women in the intervention group showed a weight loss 24 months after delivery than did women in the control group at that same time (p= 0.034). Women in the intervention group who gained less than 7 kg during pregnancy had a significantly lower weight than the controls at the 24 months follow-up (p= 0.018). The mean value of weight change in the intervention group was -2.2 kg compared to +0.4 kg in the control group from early pregnancy to the follow-up 12 months after childbirth (p= 0.046).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An intervention program with weekly motivational support visits during pregnancy and every 6 months after childbirth seems to have an impact on weight gain up to 24 months after childbirth for those women in the intervention group who succeeded in restricting their gestational weight gain to less than 7 kg.
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden. Ing-Marie.Claesson@liu.se
authors.forename: Ing-Marie
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Claesson
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sydsjö
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brynhildsen
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blomberg
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jeppsson
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sydsjö
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Josefsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D037001:Directive Counseling; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D010298:Parity; D036801:Parturition; D011181:Postnatal Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000628:therapy*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult