Jean Hailes research update

New research by the Jean Hailes Foundation for Women's Health is looking at how to help women lead a healthier lifestyle and so reduce their risk of gestational diabetes during pregnancy.

Being overweight during pregnancy, or gaining excess weight during pregnancy, increases a woman's risk of gestational diabetes which can lead to health issues such as an early delivery, complications with delivery, and a larger than usual baby.

Women who experience gestational diabetes are also at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future, says Cheryce Harrison, a PhD student with Jean Hailes Research Unit in the School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University.

With this health concern in mind, Cheryce is completing a large randomised control study with 200 pregnant women identified as being at potentially increased risk of developing gestational diabetes.

The study utilises the HeLP-her lifestyle program, a behavioural change program that helps women prevent excess weight gain. The HeLP-her program, introduced by Dr Cate Lombard, is being trialled in women who are in the early stage of pregnancy to reduce their risk of gaining excess weight and developing gestational diabetes.

The participants were divided into a control group and an intervention group. The intervention group took part in four information sessions with a researcher. "The sessions focused on early pregnancy excess weight gain prevention and instilling simple but important health messages for the rest of the pregnancy," says Cheryce.

"A big part of the program is trying to remove misconceptions around pregnancy, such as the idea that women need to eat for two. They don't. We also explained that physical activity guidelines during pregnancy are the same as for adults who are not pregnant – so ideally women would do 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week," Cheryce added.

Each woman was given an optimal healthy weight gain goal during pregnancy based on international guidelines. Weight gain recommendations vary but generally, women with a healthy weight before pregnancy are advised to gain 11-16 kg. Women above a healthy weight are advised to gain 5-11 kg. It is generally not recommended that women try to reduce weight during pregnancy.

"The preliminary baseline results indicate that many women are not active enough," says Cheryce. "This also puts them at risk of coming out of their pregnancy heavier than they were before they became pregnant."

Results will not be available until next year but previous research has shown making small changes to activity and diet have important short term and long term benefits. If the program proves to be effective in reducing excess weight gain and incidence of gestational diabetes, it could be rolled out to more women during early stages of pregnancy in the future.

For more information on healthy weight, visit www.healthforwomen.org.au or see your health professional. 

Content Updated November 2010