LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE OF WOMEN ABOUT THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OVERWEIGHT DURING PREGNANCY
Authors: Maksymenko L. R. 
Published: January 2023

Worldwide half of women start pregnancy with overweight/obese, which greatly increases the risk of pregnancy and birth complications. Recommendations to improve preconception care emphasize the need to ensure that women of reproductive age understand factors that increase the obstetric and perinatal risks connected with high body mass index (BMI).

Aim. Study whether women who start pregnancy with overweight were known of the increased risks of the gestational complications associated with a high (BMI) and the barriers and limitations that women had to optimize their body weight before conception.

Materials and methods. total of 117 pregnant were enrolled in the research. The first group included 68 overweight women (BMI 25.0-29.9 kg/m2), the second - 49 normal body weight women (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) before pregnancy. Two questionnaires were used: "Questionnaire on the assessment of the level of knowledge of women about the risks associated with overweight during pregnancy" and "Barriers and limitations that women had to optimize body weight before conception". Patients filled out the presented questionnaires individually during the first antenatal visit (9-12 weeks). The results were statistically analyzed using Statistica 10.0 program pack (StatSoft Inc., USA) and Microsoft Excel statistical analysis package. The differences between the groups were considered statistically significant at p<0.05.

Results. It was shown that the majority of women knew that overweight increased the general risk of pregnancy complications regardless of the woman's BMI. However, the chances of underestimating the high risk of operative delivery in overweight patients were (OR=3.80; 95% CI: 1.83-7.87; p<0.001 and OR=3.69; 95% CI: 1.58 -8.64; p=0.004), premature birth (OR=2.96; 95% CI: 1.47-5.95; p=0.003 and OR=2.99; 95% CI: 1.31-6 .83; p=0.015), adverse neonatal outcomes (OR=2.96; 95% CI: 1.47-5.95; p=0.0031), and especially fetal congenital anomalies of development (OR=5.50; 95 % CI: 2.62-11.54; p<0.001 and OR=12.38; 95% CI: 4.56-33.58; p<0.001) among patients of the first and second groups, respectively. An underestimation of the risk of diabetes, caesarean section, premature birth, and negative perinatal outcomes, and especially congenital fetal abnormalities, has been confirmed if weight loss occurs before conception. The main barriers and limitations for women to optimize their weight before pregnancy were insufficient basic knowledge about the risk of gestational, especially perinatal complications during pregnancy and childbirth associated with overweight, family culture and habits, unsuccessful repeated irregular attempts to weight lose, lack of information and consulting medical professionals on this issue. Only 14.7 % of women reported that they were satisfied with their appearance and health and did not need to lose weight.

Conclusions. Being overweight, usually caused by incorrect lifestyle, including dietary choices and lack of physical activity, has long-term negative health consequences for women and their children. The preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum periods are unique opportunities for intervention to establish sustainable healthy lifestyles. It remains relevant to develop programs aimed at improving women's knowledge about overweight as a factor of high obstetric and perinatal risks, and lifestyle modeling with the aim of optimizing body weight at the preconceptional stage.