Effects of Maternal Macronutrient intake in 3rd trimester of normal pregnancy on the maternal weight gain and neonatal birth weight of full term neonates

Objective To determine effects of maternal macronutrient intake in 3rd trimester of normal pregnancy on the maternal weight gain and neonatal birth weight of full term neonates. Patients and Methods The study was conducted from April, 2007 to November 2007 at Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. This hospital based Descriptive study was carried out on pregnant women registered at 26 weeks of pregnancy by employing consecutive (non- probability) sampling technique. Dietary history was taken by a semi structured Food Frequency questionnaire and 24 hours dietary recall at the time of registration. Written informed consent was obtained. Results Mean energy and protein consumption of the pregnant women was 2168.89 Kcal/day and 65.71 g/day respectively in the last trimester of pregnancy. Fat and carbohydrate intake was 73.26 g/day and 306.14 g/day respectively. Maternal energy intake more than the National Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for Pakistan showed a highly significant (P = 0.007) increase in the birth weight of the neonates but no increase was seen (P = 0.93) in the maternal weekly weight gain. Maternal fat consumption had a significant positive relation with both the neonatal birth weight (P = 0.005) as well as maternal weekly weight gain (P = 0.03) but carbohydrate consumption was only significantly related to maternal weight gain (P = 0.01). Conclusion This study suggests a strong role of maternal diet during pregnancy for optimal newborn weight. (Rawal Med J 2011; 36: 137- 142).