ABSTRACT
The global epidemic of obesity continues to accelerate at an alarming rate. Nearly three in every ve U.S. women of reproductive age (20-44 years) are now classied as overweight or obese.1 Excessive weight gain in pregnancy is a signicant contributor to rising obesity rates in women and the obesity-associated public health-care burden in the United States.2 Obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) have been recognized as independent risk factors for maternal and fetal complications, including diabetes, hypertension, operative deliveries, macrosomia, and neonatal complications (Box 59.1).3 More recently, we have begun to understand that maternal obesity is associated with significant lifelong consequences for the next generation as well.4 This chapter is a review of the current knowledge regarding maternal, fetal, and neonatal pregnancy outcomes in obese women.
