Recipient organisationNIHR Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria
NIHR supportRecorded as supported by this research centre
PeriodFeb 2025 — Jul 2026
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
South Tees Hospital is weighing pregnant women at every antenatal appointment and plotting the results on a chart to track whether they gain too little, too much, or the right amount of weight during pregnancy. This matters because excessive or inadequate gestational weight gain is linked to complications for both mother and baby—such as preterm birth, gestational diabetes, or caesarean delivery—yet there is no standard UK approach to monitoring it. South Tees is the only trust in its region using US-based guidelines, and no one has systematically evaluated how well this works in practice. If the evaluation shows that routine weighing and charting helps women stay within healthy weight ranges and improves birth outcomes, other NHS trusts could adopt the same approach. The project also examines whether weight gain patterns differ by ethnicity, deprivation, or smoking status, which could reveal inequalities in care. For women with a BMI over 40, the service already offers a one-stop clinic with dietetic support; the study will assess whether that referral pathway is effective. The findings could reshape how the NHS monitors weight in pregnancy, moving from ad hoc advice to a structured, evidence-based system.
View original technical description
South Tees Hospital currently delivers a maternity service that draws on the USA NAM guidelines to inform pregnant women and birthing people about recommended gestational weight gain, and to monitor gestational weight gain through pregnancy using BMI specific charts. South Tees is the only Trust within the region to use this approach. All pregnant women and birthing people are weighed, where possible, at each antenatal appointment and these measurements are plotted on a gestational weight gain chart. For those with BMI?40 kg/m2 a referral is made to a multi-disciplinary “one stop” healthy lifestyle clinic, which includes dietetic support. We are doing an evalution to: 1: To explore pregnant women and birthing people’s experiences of gestational weight gain monitoring and support through interviews; 2. To explore staff (i.e., midwives and service managers) experiences of delivering gestational weight gain monitoring and support through interviews; 3. To explore patterns in gestational weight gain and compare these with the NAM BMI-specific guidelines for adequate, inadequate and excessive gestational weight gain using routeinly collected service data; 4. To explore gestational weight gain adequacy and socio-economic, demographic and behavioural inequalities (e.g. ethnic group, deprivation, parity, maternal age, smoking status) using routeinly collected service data; 5. To explore gestational weight gain and associations with maternal and infant pregnancy outcomes, including analysis according to obesity classes I, II and III using routeinly collected service data
Prevention, Early Intervention and Behaviour Change
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