Do fat women have bigger babies?

Question

I think that if the mother eats more than other pregnant women do, then the baby eats more than other babies do, and the baby should be born bigger and fatter.

What's the truth of the situation? Do women who eat too much when pregnant have bigger babies?

Answer 1

People are going to hate me for what I say here.

To start with, obviously it is not always the case that a larger woman will have a larger baby, a 90lb woman can have a 10lb baby!

But, and seriously, read the book if you don't believe me, a quote from 'What to Expect when you are expecting' states that 'On AVERAGE, the larger the weight gain during pregnancy, the larger the baby'

This is just an average, people!

And not my research, it's in the book!

Answer 2

A Skinny Women Or And Overweight Women All Have The Same chances Of Having A Large Baby If They Eat Bad During Pregnancy And Gain Way to Much Weight.Just Because A women is over weight does not mean she will have A large Baby.I know A lot of small Skinny women who Have Large Babies and Also A lot of larger women who have smaller Babies.It Really comes down to How well A mother eats well she is pregnant and how well she takes care of herself And Also Genetics On The Mother and Fathers Side plays a factor in Birth weight Also other Health risks play A factor In If Babies Get Large Like Over weight women have Higher risks Of Getting Gestational Diabetes But Smaller women can also get it to And It can also play A factor in Babies Size.A lot of factors go into If A women Has A Large Baby Or A Small Baby and Really Has Nothing To Do With A Womens Weight When She Starts Out Her Pregnancy.

Answer 3

Well if it helps I gained over 50lbs when I was pregnant with my son. I carried him to FULL term (he was born just 1 day before his due date) and he weighed 7lbs 0oz! I think thats pretty small! I weighed about 120 before I got pregnant.

Answer 4

why are you asking this? and no not true at all.i gained a lot of wight with my daughter she was born 6 pounds 12 ounces.she had her baby 3 days after me and did not gain much weight he son was born 8 pounds something ounces...no truth to that at all what so ever....not even a little although i can see how it might make sense

Answer 5

Well i know that if the parent is overweight that t's in the child genes to have a lower metabolism but they don't always turn out over weight

Answer 6

No I don't think so.  As far as I know from what I learnt in my own pregnancy your size and how much you eat has very little to do with it; just so long as you get all the proper nutrition and energy requirements for a pregnancy, everyone bakes differently.

I did not have a huge stomache in my first pregnancy (last yr) and only gained 8kg in total.  The doctors were concerned that I wasn't showing very much and so I had an extra ultrasound.  It turned out he was 8.2 pounds - Must have just been squished in.

My sister-in-law gained 17 kilos, her belly was huge and her baby was only 2.5 kilos.

From what the midwives told me...a baby takes what it needs - no more, no less - whether you have enough stores for yourself or not...that's why so many women who get anaemic during pregnancy do not necessarily have anaemic babies.