The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies, through the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Food and Nutrition Board, has initiated a project on describing the trends in maternal weight gain (prior to, during, and after pregnancy) and the impact of maternal weight during pregnancy on the health of mothers and their children (up to 12 months). This work is supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The final product of this Committee on the Impact of Pregnancy Weight on Maternal and Child Health will be a summary report without recommendations, published by the National Academies Press, which will describe the distribution of maternal weight among different populations of women, the effects of different weight patterns during pregnancy on maternal and child health outcomes, and describe the factors that impede or foster the compliance with recommended gestational weight guidelines.
The goal of the workshop is to engage in discussion surrounding the following questions: (1) What research describes the distribution of maternal weight (before, during, and after pregnancy) among different populations of women in the United States?; (2) What research informs the understanding of the effects of different weight patterns during pregnancy on maternal and child health outcomes?; (3) What research describes the individual, community, and health care system factors that impede or foster compliance with recommended gestational weight guidelines?
On the first day the workshop we will have an overview and three panels. The overview will provide insight on the distribution of maternal weight among different populations of women and trends in gestational weight gain. The first panel will discuss direct predictors and moderators and maternal health consequences of gestational weight gain. The second panel will discuss maternal weight and gestational weight gain as predictors and moderators of infant growth and health. On the third panel, insights from interventions of maternal weight and gestational weight gain will be discussed. The second day will summarize the previous day discussions by reviewing the committee's goals and identifying gaps.
Committee for a Workshop on the Impact of Pregnancy Weight on Maternal and Child Health
Maxine Hayes, Chair,
State of Washington, Department of Health
Barbara Abrams, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
Ezra C. Davidson, Jr., Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Lillian Gelberg, Department of Family Medicine, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Matthew W. Gillman, Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Janet C. King, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute
Harriet Kitzman, School of Nursing, University of Rochester
Ronald E. Kleinman, Pediatric GI/Nutrition, Massachusetts General Hospital
Gregg Pane, D.C. Department of Health
Kathleen M. Rasmussen, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University