title: Association between parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the relationship between parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), and gestational weight gain (GWG).
  
  
  METHODS
  This observational controlled study was conducted from November 2013 to April 2014, with postpartum women who started antenatal care up to 14 weeks and had full-term births. Data were collected from medical records and antenatal cards. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed. The significance level was 5%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data were collected from 130 primiparous and 160 multiparous women. At the beginning of prenatal care, 54.62% of the primiparous were eutrophic, while the majority of multiparous were overweight or obese (62.51%). Multiparas are two times more likely to be obese at the beginning of their pregnancies, when compared to primiparas. The average pre-pregnancy weight and final pregnancy weight was significantly higher in multiparous, however, the mean GWG was higher among primiparous.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found an inverse correlation between parity and the total GWG, but initial BMI was significantly higher in multiparas. Nevertheless, monitoring of the GWG through actions that promote a healthier lifestyle is needed, regardless of parity and nutritional status, in order to prevent excessive GWG and postpartum weight retention and consequently inadequate pre-pregnancy nutritional status in future pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , University of Campinas - UNICAMP , São Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Daiane Sofia de Morais
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Paulino
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , University of Campinas - UNICAMP , São Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda Garanhani
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Surita
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , University of Campinas - UNICAMP , São Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela Bertoldi
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , University of Campinas - UNICAMP , São Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Simony Lira
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: do Nascimento
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , University of Campinas - UNICAMP , São Paulo , Brazil.
authors.forename: Sirlei Siani
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Morais
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body mass index; gestational weight gain; parity