Dangers+of+Maternal+Obesity

__**Dan**____**gers of Matern**____**al Obesity**__ __** By: Zufarna Jagmohan **__


 * Being obese simply means that you have a BMI (body mass index) of 29 or above. BMI being the relation between your height a****nd weight. Obesity has been an on going issue within New York. "Currently more that 32 million women, about one sixth of the U.S. population, are over weight, weighing 20% more above their desirable body weight, and 40% of young adult women are obese" (Crane 1).**


 * Many Serious Dangers come from Pre- Pregnant Obesity: **
 * ** Cesarean Delivery **
 * ** Low birth weight infants as well as macrosomic **
 * ** Developing Chronic and Gestational Diabetes **
 * ** Others include operative risks, anesthesia complications, shoulder dystocia-  the anterior shoulder of the infant cannot pass after the head has passed through the birth canal(Baxely 1), dehiscence- partial or complete separation of the outer layers of the joined incision (Beattie 1)**

Cesarean Deliveries-
 * ** A surgical method used for delivery (incision made on the lower abdomen as well as the uterus ) rather than a natural delivery **
 * **Usually the end outcome when complications are known to the pregnancy when obese along with preterm delivery **
 * **Two popular problems are hypertension(high-blood pressure) and diabetes(high blood-sugar levels) which can cause a C-section and preterm delivery instead of natural birth (Terry 1549) **
 * **Like any surgery, a cesarean has dangers involved and not the preferable labor method. **

Low Birth Weight and Macrosomic Infants- > **(strongly linked to infant born with a low birth weight) (Crane 213) **
 * **Obese women also have an increased risk of hypertensive disorders, including preeclampsia-** **a pregnancy condition in which high blood pressure and protein in the urine develop **
 * **Birth weight lower then 4000 grams considered to be LBW**
 * **LBW and Macrosomic births are very strongly correlated to the infant developing gestational diabetes and chronic diabetes (Terry 1550) **
 * **Studies show that women who are obese and diabetic before being pregnant have newborns with LBW with a preterm or a cesarean delivery, or result in a macrosomic birth. **
 * **LBW creates problems in the future such as a short lifespan and developmental issues (Mann 1) **


 * [[image:http://thebumpoc.com/wp-content/uploads/spl_low_birthweight_baby5.jpg width="460" height="287" align="right"]]

Chronic and Gestational Diabetes-
 * ** Diabetes developed as an infant is called gestational diabetes type 2, very high sugar levels found in blood with resistance to insulin **
 * ** Dialysis and manual intake of insulin will be required. (Doheny 1) **
 * ** Women can also develop chronic cancer from becoming pregnant while being obese **
 * ** Strongly correlated to macrosomic babies and usually resulting in a cesarean delivery **
 * ** Sometimes to avoid complications doctors do a preterm delivery causing LBW, or can cause macrosomia (Terry 1550) **



**NYC**!
 * **Our fast paced life style makes it extremely hard for people to have time to eat a properly cooked meal **
 * **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Fast food restaurants are flourished around NYC making access to them easier, more convenient and a lot cheaper **
 * **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Portions are larger in America in general rather than other places, I have personally noticed. **
 * ** Transportation is facilitated in NYC so walking to places become uncommon to us, especially considering our fast paced lifestyle **

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 167%;">Sources used:
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 * http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0401/p1707.html
 * "Association between Nusre-pregnancy Obesity and the Risk of Cesarean Delivery." Obstetrics & Gynecology 89.2 (1997): 213-16.
 * "Maternal Obesity and Diabetes as Risk Factors for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Differences Among 4 Racial/Ethnic Groups." American Journal of Public Health 95.9 (2005): 1545-551.