If you’re underweight before pregnancy, it’s essential to gain a reasonable amount of weight while you’re pregnant. Without the extra weight, your baby might be born early (premature birth) or smaller than expected.
Gaining too much weight during pregnancy can increase your baby’s risk of health problems – such as being born significantly larger than average (fetal macrosomia) – and complications at birth – such as the baby’s shoulder becoming stuck after the head is delivered (shoulder dystocia). Excessive weight gain during pregnancy can also increase your risk of postpartum weight retention.
The good news is that if you are pregnant, the Healthy for Two Healthy for You program is here to help you improve your health and the health of your baby.
Improving your health behaviors will contribute to a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby:
We designed this program to help you achieve healthy weight gain during your pregnancy. Supported by a specially-trained health coach, the program will also help you return to a healthy weight after delivery and focus on enhancing your well-being like reducing your stress and improving your sleep.
This unique program is:
The role of your coach:
Your coach will help you with healthy weight gain and wellness during your pregnancy. Also, she will help you with healthy weight loss postpartum.
During your coaching calls, you should expect your coach to review your:
Commit to You and Your Baby!
Commit to the Program!
Healthy for Two Healthy for You was developed through years of research and clinical application by Wendy Bennett, M.D., M.P.H., an an associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine. She has joint appointments in epidemiology and population, family and reproductive health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Bennett studies the prevention and management of obesity and type 2 diabetes. As a principal investigator for the Population Project for the American Heart Association’s Strategically Focused Research Network on Obesity at Johns Hopkins University, she is testing a health-coaching behavioral intervention to limit weight gain in pregnancy. Dr. Bennett co-directs the Center for Women’s Health, Sex and Gender Research. She is a practicing general internist.