The influence of monitoring activities on maternal weight gain among pregnant women

Background: The relationship between nutritional status in early life and the risk of chronic diseases in the future development of the child is a critical factor that needs to be considered. The basic factors that can help in this case include thrifty phenotype hypothesis, developmental plasticity, fetal programming and weight gain regulation. This study aims to determine the average increase in weight gain before and after mentoring program. Design and methods: The sample was taken randomly from 191 pregnant women. From number of women mentored, 106 that met the inclusion criteria. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test then was used in the data analysis. Results: The results show that the average body weight of women increased 18.94%, while the BMI rose by 7.46%. Mentoring program led to an increase in maternal body weight, indicated with a P-value of 0.000. Conclusions: In conclusion, mentoring program influences bodyweight in pregnant women. Therefore, it is vital to maintain a high nutritional status during pregnancy.