International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The more obese a woman is, the greater the risk of her baby being born with a congenital heart defect, new research from the National Institutes of Health and the New York state Department of Health has found.

On average, there is 15 per cent more chance of a baby born to an obese mother having a heart defect than those born to a woman of an average weight.

The risk of a heart defect increases with the level of obesity too.

Women who are moderately obese have an 11 per cent greater chance, while morbidly obese women have a risk three-times higher, 33 per cent, of their child developing a heart defect.

Congenital heart defects, which range from minor complaints to life threatening, are the most common type of birth defect, affecting around eight in every 1,000 newborn babies.

Recent research has shown that women who gain too much weight during pregnancy are more at risk from obesity later in life.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has recommended guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy.

Researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia used the guidelines when conducting the study, finding that those who gained too much weight during pregnancy put on 8kg more 21 years later.

Posted by Alexandra George