How much weight would you say the average woman gains in her first pregnancy.?

Question

My doctor says I am gaining a little bit more weight than he would like to see. I am 33 weeks now. What's the average. I hear 15-25 pounds but that sounds a little low. I mean its 2007 people!

Answer 1

Women seem to be encouraged to gain a little more than they need to nowadays. In my grandma's era, she was strictly prohibited from gaining more than 15 lbs and encouraged to smoke to "keep the weight down". Women were regularly weighed and humiliated if they gained too much and their husbands chided to "restrict their wife's eating". Pretty embarrassing, huh?

However, now we seem to have gone the other way and women are gaining 50 lbs or more which is not beneficial, leading to an increase of medical complications like GDM and PIH and also increased chance of some cosmetic problems like stretch marks and varicose veins. The weight of the baby, placenta, fluid, increased blood supply and all necessary things due to pregnancy are about 15-20 lbs. You can read the breakdown in any pregnancy book. Anything beyond that is generally fat, but some fat stores of about 10 lbs are normal and expected. Thus the average weight gain for the average woman is 25-35 lbs. However, if you are still a teenager thus still growing, and also if you started out on the thin side you gain more.

My own stats are:
120 -> 145 first pregnancy (34 wks 5.5 lb baby)
140 -> 160 second pregnancy ( 37 wks 7.5 lb baby)
140 -> 170 third pregnancy (9 lb baby)

I was back to prepregnancy weight without any particular effort by 12 weeks postpartum. If you keep your weight within the normal range for your age, size of baby, gestation, etc then you will generally drop the weight by that time too, especially if you are breastfeeding.

Answer 2

It really depends on your body weight prior to being pregnant. A person of normal weight is generally expected to gain between 20-25 lbs. A woman who is considered underweight prior to pregnancy would be expected to gain between 25-35 lbs. and an overweight woman would be expected to gain 15-20 lbs. Remember that just because they say you are eating for two doesn't mean you eat twice as much...

I gained 40 lbs. but I had a 10 lb. baby too. My other pregnancies I only gained about 20-25 lbs...

Answer 3

Everyone is different. Me and one of my friends were pregnant at the same time and about the same weight when we found out. I was 5'7 and 135lbs. I only gained 8 pounds throughout my whole pregnancy. Don't ask me how but I didn't even look pregnant. My friend gained 55 pounds. I just think it's how active you are and u watch what you eat. I ate a lot of vegetables and was very active. Don't use being pregnant as an excuse to be lazy and the weight thing should be fine.

Answer 4

It depends on your weight before you get pregnant. About 25-30 pounds is a good average. But if you are underweight to start with, you may need to gain a little more, overweight to start with ,you need to gain a little less. More important than weight gain though is the quality of your diet.

Answer 5

at the beginning of my first pregnancy I weighed 96 pounds I was 16 at the end of that pregnancy I weighed 147 so I gained 51 pounds people say stuff like that to me all the time with my 3rd I gained 60 and I'm 6 months now and have already gained 23 pounds.Don't worry you got enough to worry about.

Answer 6

My wife's doctor said 30 pounds max...she is now at 33 weeks too and she has gained 24 lbs.

Answer 7

Thank you, I agree. The number I heard through both of my preganancies (the most recent only 3 years ago) was 30 lbs.
I exceeded that both times, but gaining less than that worries me. Of course gaining a whole lot more can cause health problems, too. I think 30 is a good number to shoot for!

Answer 8

everyone is different. i know that i had ''all day sickness'' instead of morning sickness throughout my WHOLE pregnancy with my twins. and only gained about 10 lbs.... was on a lot of meds to try to help with the nausea but nothing worked. it was also my first pregnancy. and now no one even believes that i had them only 9 weeks ago. lol even lost more than those 10 lbs that i gained

i would say that what your doctor says, is about right, but hey you are almost done!!!! so just eat healthy, fresh fruits, and veggies (i know not that easy with all the cravings). but wouldn't worry about it all that much. wish ya luck!!!!

Answer 9

i gained 20 lbs but i have a very small frame and am really short. i ate as much as i should have but also i smoked throughout my pregnancy (i know not smart but my obgyn advised me other wise that if i was stressed it wasn't at all good for the baby and to keep smoking just cut down). my baby only came out weighing 5lbs 10 oz. you usually gain about 20 to 30 lbs but everyone is different.

Answer 10

In nutrition class we learned a minimum of 25lbs. The average is 25-35lbs. My midwife this I might gain up to 45lbs because I was thin prior to my pregnancy. As another said, it varies quite a bit according to the individual.