Developing a pre-conception intervention for women with severe and complex maternal obesity.

Summary

Around 50% of women are entering pregnancy with overweight or obesity. Complex or severe obesity in pregnancy is when Body Mass Index (BMI - a way of categorising weight) is greater than 40kg/m2 or where BMI is greater than 35kg/m2 and a woman has additional health problems.

Obesity in pregnancy is associated with a range of complications for mothers and babies, including development of high blood pressure, diabetes in pregnancy, birth defects and an increased chance of emergency caesarean section.

There are healthcare recommendations to help women with obesity prepare for pregnancy as we know that improving health before pregnancy improves outcomes for mothers and babies. Yet, dedicated care before pregnancy (pre-conception care) is not available within the NHS.

Our research hopes to find out what information or support women need to optimise their health before conception and where and when pre-conception care could be delivered. We would like to speak with doctors, nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals to find out if they feel a pre-conception care intervention would be accepted and delivered within the NHS.

This research will involve women and their partners who have complex and severe obesity from a range of different backgrounds, through online groups and interviews. We will also interview healthcare professionals looking after couples in a range of different healthcare settings. Learning more about the challenges, opportunities and needs of these different groups will help us to develop a pre-conception care intervention to improve outcomes during and after pregnancy in the future.