Pregnancy and Maternal obesity

Pregnancy symptoms and complications can range from mild and annoying discomforts to severe, sometimes life-threatening illnesses. Problems during pregnancy may include physical and psychological conditions that negatively affect the health of the mother or the baby (Bruce et al. 2008). In this paper an attempt has been done to see the association of maternal obesity with pregnancy related complications viz. namely menstruation cycle disturbance, mode of delivery and adverse pregnancy outcome (miscarriage and stillbirth) among the women in reproductive ages with the National Family Health Survey-3 data. Results show that maternal obesity is frequently associated with menstruation cycle disturbance. Increasing maternal BMI results into increased risk of delivery by emergency caesarean section. Results also suggest that overweight and obesity may increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among younger women, whereas this relationship is not observed among older women.