One hundred pregnant women with obesity who are otherwise healthy will be studied from early pregnancy until approximately 2 weeks postpartum. Major assessments will occur at baseline (13-16 weeks gestation), 27-29 weeks gestation, 35-37 weeks gestation, and approximately 2 weeks postpartum. Safety assessments will be collected every 4 weeks after enrollment. Participants will be equally randomized within site (50 individuals at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and 50 individuals at California Polytechnic University) and obesity grade 2 or 3 to either: Provider Directed Group or Weight Maintenance Group.
The aims of this randomized controlled trial are to determine the effects of a lifestyle program that supports weight maintenance and fat mass loss during pregnancy in women with obesity on changes in 1) maternal weight, fat mass, and cardiometabolic risk factors; 2) safety measures, including fetal and neonatal growth; 3) the mediators and moderators of the fat mass loss intervention and 4) the effects gestational fat mass loss has on reducing incidence of adverse obstetrical outcomes, including non-elective cesarean delivery, gestational diabetes, hypertension, and pre-eclampsia.