Introduction:

Pregnancy is a period of persistent obesity risk after delivery. Among other causes, it is secondary to the nutritional status at the beginning of pregnancy and to gaining weight above the recommended.

Objective:

To describe gestational weight gains by nutritional categories and their association with weight retention one year after delivery.

Methods:

An observational and cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 women one year after delivery and from three health areas of Santa Clara Municipality, in the period from July 2016 to July 2017. Their pregnancy identification cards were reviewed to collect their weight in kilograms at the time pregnancy was identified, nutritional evaluation based on the body mass index at the first office visit, and the weight at the end of pregnancy. They were paid home visits one year after delivery. General data were collected, foot size, body weight, and waist circumference were measured. Body mass and waist/height indexes were calculated.

Results:

The weight condition adequate to the time pregnancy was identified (67.08%). 82.87% of women retained weight one year after delivery, more frequently in obese (90.0%) and overweight (83.01%) women according to their nutritional status at the time pregnancy was identified. All women had waist/height index above 0.50 one year after delivery.

Conclusions:

Women with weight gains higher than recommended have less capacity to recover their body weight one year after delivery.

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