Gaining ground – and weight.
No doubt your body has seen many changes through pregnancy at week 23. Like many pregnant women, you may find yourself wondering, what’s “normal” weight gain?
No doubt your body has seen many changes through pregnancy at week 23. Like many pregnant women, you may find yourself wondering, what’s “normal” weight gain?
Pregnancy typically involves weight gain. The extra weight provides nourishment for your growing baby. It’s also stored to help with breastfeeding after your baby is born.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) (2013a) guidelines note that women of normal pre-pregnancy weight gain an average of
a 0.45 kg a week by the twenty third week of pregnancy. Talk to your doctor about where you fall on the weight spectrum.
How can that tiny baby weigh so much?
Check out these estimate weights published in the sixth edition of Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month, 6th Edition.2010; The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Keep in mind that pregnancy weight gain is different for every woman and baby.
| Baby | 3 to 4 kg |
| Placenta | 0.22 – 0.45 kg |
| Amniotic fluid | 1 kg |
| Uterus | 1 kg |
| Heavier breasts | 1 to 1.4 kg |
| Additional blood volume | 1.4 to 1.8 kg |
| Increased fluids | 1.4 to 1.8 kg |
| Fat storage | 2.7 to 3.6 kg |
