Mothers hoping to avoid giving birth to large babies should watch their weight: Study

TORONTO – New research suggests mothers hoping to avoid giving birth to overly large babies should start by controlling their own weight.
    
Researchers from four Toronto health institutions found mothers who were overweight, or who gained excessive weight during pregnancy, were more likely to have babies weighing more than four kilograms.
    
The study is published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
    
Researchers say the findings challenge the wide-spread belief that glucose levels are the best predictors of infant birth weight.
    
Lead researcher Ravi Retnakaran (ret-NAH’-ka-run) says overly large fetuses pose risks to both mother and child.
    
He says large babies lead to difficult pregnancies and make the delivery process more dangerous for the mom, while big infants are at greater risk for chronic diseases when they grow up.
    
He says controlling maternal weight both before and during pregnancy is the most important thing that can be done to protect both mothers and children.

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