Where do you gain weight when pregnant with a girl

Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help your baby get the nutrients they need and grow at a healthy rate. But how many extra calories do you really need?

Though you do need some extra calories, it's not necessary to ''eat for two.'' The average pregnant woman needs only about 300 healthycalories more a day than they did before they were pregnant. This will help them gain the right amount of weight during pregnancy.

Ask your health care provider how much weight you should gain. A woman who was average weight before getting pregnant should gain 25 to 35 pounds after becoming pregnant. Underweight women should gain 28 to 40 pounds. And overweight women may need to gain only 15 to 25 pounds during pregnancy.

In general, you should gain about 2 to 4 pounds during the first 3 months you're pregnant and 1 pound a week during the rest of your pregnancy. If you are expecting twins you should gain 35 to 45 pounds during your pregnancy. This would be an average of 1 ½ pounds per week after the usual weight gain in the first 3 months.

It's especially important to gain the right amount of weight when you're expecting twins because your weight affects the babies' weight. And because twins are often born before the due date, a higher birth weight is important for their health. When carrying twins, you may need between 3,000 and 3,500 calories a day.

If a woman is very overweight when they get pregnant, their doctor may want them to lose weight. They should only lose weight under their doctor's care. But in most cases, women should not try to lose weight or diet during pregnancy.

If your health care provider wants you to gain weight while you're pregnant, try these tips:

Eat five to six small meals every day.
Keep quick, easy snacks on hand, such as nuts, raisins, cheese and crackers, dried fruit, and ice cream or yogurt.
Spread peanut butter on toast, crackers, apples, bananas, or celery. One tablespoon of creamy peanut butter gives you about 100 calories and 7 grams of protein.
Add nonfat powdered milk to mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, and hot cereal.
Add extras to your meal, such as butter or margarine, cream cheese, gravy, sour cream, and cheese.

If you have gained more weight than your doctor recommended, talk to your doctor about it. In most cases, you'll want to wait until after delivery to lose weight.

Here are some tips to slow your weight gain:

When eating fast food, choose lower-fat items such as broiled chicken breast sandwich with tomato and lettuce (no sauce or mayonnaise), side salad with low-fat dressing, plain bagels, or a plain baked potato. Avoid foods such as French fries, mozzarella sticks, or breaded chicken patties.
Avoid whole milk products. You need at least four servings of milk products every day. However, using skim, 1%, or 2% milk will greatly reduce the amount of calories and fat you eat. Also, choose low-fat or fat-free cheese or yogurt.
Limit sweet or sugary drinks. Sweetened drinks such as soft drinks, fruit punch, fruit drinks, iced tea, lemonade, or powdered drink mixes have lots of empty calories. Choose water, club soda, or mineral water to skip extra calories.
Don't add salt to foods when cooking. Salt causes you to retain water.
Limit sweets and high-calorie snacks. Cookies, candies, donuts, cakes, syrup, honey, and potato chips have a lot of calories and little nutrition. Try not to eat these foods every day. Instead, try fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, angel food cake with strawberries, or pretzels as lower-calorie snack and dessert choices.
Use fats in moderation. Fats include cooking oils, margarine, butter, gravy, sauces, mayonnaise, regular salad dressings, sauces, lard, sour cream, and cream cheese. Try lower-fat alternatives.
Cook food the healthy way. Frying foods in oil or butter will add calories and fat. Baking, broiling, grilling, and boiling are healthier preparation methods.
Exercise. Moderate exercise can help burn excess calories. Walking or swimming is usually safe for pregnant women. Ask your health care provider what exercise would be right for you before getting started.

Talk to your doctor if you:

Want to know a good target weight gain for you
Think you are gaining too much weight
Are losing weight during the second or third trimester
Have an eating disorder that is keeping you from eating a healthy amount of food
Need help setting a good menu plan to gain a healthy amount of weight
Gain weight rapidly. This could be a sign of preeclampsia, pregnancy-related high blood pressure, a serious health issue

Weight is an important part of your health and wellbeing during pregnancy.

Weight gain during pregnancy

The amount of weight you gain during pregnancy can affect your own health as well as your baby’s health and development. But how much should you gain?

The recommended amount of weight gain depends on your pre-pregnancy weight. The recommendations below are a guide only: there are circumstances where a different weight goal may be recommended by your midwife, doctor or dietitian.

Pre-pregnancy BMI	Recommended weight gain over the whole pregnancy	Recommended weight gain per month in the 2nd and 3rd trimester *
BMI less than 18.5 (underweight)	12.5kg to 18kg	2kg to 2.6kg
18.5 to 24.9 (healthy weight) 18.5 to 22.9 if Asian	11.5kg to 16kg	1.5kg to 2.3kg
25 to 29.9 (overweight) 23 to 27.5 if Asian	7kg to 11.5kg	1kg to 1.5kg
30 or more or over 27.5 if Asian	5kg to 9kg (less than &kg if Asian)	0.8kg to 1.2kg

* Average gain in the first three months is 1/2 to 2 kilos for everyone.

Factors that can influence how much weight you gain

How and what you eat
How active you are during your pregnancy and how much exercise you do
Pregnancy related symptoms such as nausea (‘morning sickness’)
Changes to your appetite, for example food cravings and aversions
Fluid retention, especially in later pregnancy

How to maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy

Eat regular meals with a good variety of foods. This will help you to:
- include all the nutrients you and your baby need
- regulate your metabolic rate
- avoid getting overly hungry and making poor food choices
Make sure to eat three meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Add mid meal snack if hungry
Check your portion sizes
Think of some foods as ‘occasional foods’, for example fast foods, potato chips, chocolate, biscuits, cakes, etc.
Limit your intake of sweet drinks such as fruit juice, sports drinks, cordials and soft drinks.
Unless you have complication during your pregnancy participate in regular exercise.

For more information, including tips on food choices and meal planning, download the fact sheet Weight gain during pregnancy

How to monitor your weight gain

Monitoring your weight during pregnancy may help you understand if you are gaining too much or too little weight, and when to seek help if needed. If you would like to track your weight gain over the course of your pregnancy click on the link Weight Gain During Pregnancy below to access the worksheets .

There are four worksheets to choose from based on your pre-pregnancy BMI (body mass index).

BMI less than 18.5
BMI 18.5 to 24 (18.5 to 22.9 if you are Asian)
BMI 25 to 29 (23 to 27.5 if you are Asian)
BMI 30 and above (27.5 and above if you are Asian)

To calculate your BMI, take your pre-pregnancy weight in kilos divided by your height in meters squared. For example; if your pre-pregnancy weight is 72 kg and your height is 162 centimetres (1.62 meters), to work out your BMI, divide your weight by your height then divide again by height, i.e. 72 ÷ 1.62 ÷ 1.62 = 27.

Your BMI is 27, therefore download Weight gain worksheet: BMI 25 to 29

The Women’s does not accept any liability to any person for the information or advice (or use of such information or advice) which is provided on the Website or incorporated into it by reference. The Women’s provide this information on the understanding that all persons accessing it take responsibility for assessing its relevance and accuracy. Women are encouraged to discuss their health needs with a health practitioner. If you have concerns about your health, you should seek advice from your health care provider or if you require urgent care you should go to the nearest Emergency Dept.

Is weight gain important during pregnancy?

Yes. Gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy can help protect your health and the health of your baby.

If you gain too little weight during pregnancy, you’re more likely than other women to:

Have a premature baby. A premature baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
Have a baby with low birthweight. Low birthweight means your baby is born weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces.

If you gain too much weight during pregnancy, you’re more likely than other women to:

Have a premature baby. Premature babies may have health problems at birth and later in life, including being overweight or obese. Being obese means you have an excess amount of body fat.
Have a baby with fetal macrosomia. This is when your baby is born weighing more than 8 pounds, 13 ounces. Having a baby this large can cause complications, like problems during labor and heavy bleeding after birth.
Need a cesarean birth (also called c-section). This is surgery in which your baby is born through a cut that your health care provider makes in your belly and womb (also called your uterus).
Have trouble losing weight after your baby’s birth. This can increase your risk for health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

How much weight should you gain during pregnancy?

Your health care provider uses your body mass index (also called BMI) before pregnancy to figure out how much weight you should gain during pregnancy. BMI is a measure of body fat based on your height and weight. To find out your BMI, go to www.cdc.gov/bmi.

If you’re pregnant with one baby or twins, use the following chart to find your recommended weight gain based on your BMI before pregnancy. If you’re pregnant with triplets or more, talk to your provider about the amount of weight you should gain during pregnancy.

If you’re overweight or obese and are gaining less than the recommended amounts, talk to your provider. If your baby is still growing well, your weight gain may be fine.

Gaining weight slowly and steadily is best. Don't worry too much if you don’t gain any weight in the first trimester, or if you gain a little more or a little less than you think you should in any week. You may have some growth spurts—this is when you gain several pounds in a short time and then level off. Don’t ever try to lose weight during pregnancy.

If you’re worried about your weight gain, talk to your health care provider.

How can you track your weight gain during pregnancy?

Your provider checks your weight at each prenatal care visit. Use our weight-gain tracking chart to track your weight yourself.

Where do you gain the weight during pregnancy?

You know that your growing baby makes up part of the weight you’re gaining. But what about the rest? Here’s a general idea:

Baby = 7.5 pounds
Amniotic fluid = 2 pounds. Amniotic fluid surrounds the baby in the womb.
Blood = 4 pounds
Body fluids = 3 pounds
Breasts = 2 pounds
Fat, protein and other nutrients = 6 to 8 pounds
Placenta = 1.5 pounds. The placenta grows in your uterus and supplies the baby with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord.
Uterus = 2 pounds. The uterus is the place inside you where your baby grows.

Last reviewed: September 2020