gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy by eating a healthy balanced diet is a good sign that your baby is getting all the nutrients he or she needs and is growing at a healthy rate. it is not necessary to "eat for two" during pregnancy. it's true that you need extra calories from nutrient-rich foods to help your baby grow but you generally need to consume only 100 to 300 more calories than you did before you became pregnant to meet the needs of your growing baby. ask your health care provider how much weight you should gain during pregnancy. a woman of average weight before pregnancy should gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. underweight women should gain 28 to 40 pounds during pregnancy. overweight women may need to gain only 15 to 25 pounds during pregnancy. you may need to gain more or less weight depending on what your health care provider recommends. in general you should gain about 2 to 4 pounds during your first three months of pregnancy and 1 pound a week for the remainder of your pregnancy. if you are expecting twins you should gain 35 to 45 pounds during your pregnancy. this would be an average of 1 ½ pounds per week after the usual weight gain in the first three months.
how much weight should i gain during my pregnancy?