ABSTRACT
In the United States, more than one half of pregnant women are overweight or obese, putting them at a greater risk of pregnancy complications, including gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and preeclampsia. Similarly, babies of pregnant women who are overweight or obese are at increased risk of prematurity, congenital anomalies, and programmed obesity and metabolic abnormalities in adulthood. Fetal growth is largely dictated by the availability of nutrients in maternal circulation and the ability of these nutrients to be transported into fetal circulation via the placenta. The placenta is the organ through which gases, nutrients, and wastes are exchanged between the maternal-fetal circulations. Key components of healthy placental function include proper development of its vascular network and accessibility and activity of its nutrient-specic transporters. Maternal obesity is characterized by poor placental vascularization usually accompanied by alterations in the expression of nutrient transporters at the placental barrier, both of which contribute to altered fetal growth and longterm metabolic abnormalities.
