Objective: Obesity is at epidemic levels in the US, particularly among low income and ethnic minority women. Thus, study of life events that may be transitional periods for weight gain, such as pregnancy and postpartum, is imperative. Data from European studies indicate that weight gained during pregnancy is lost at a decelerating rate over the first postpartum year. Comparable US data are scant. The aim of this study was to determine whether ethnicity and time affected patterns of weight loss at 6 weeks and 3 months postpartum in sample of 380 low income women. Design: The sample was drawn from the Austin New Mothers Study, a longitudinal study of weight in the first 12 months postpartum. Sample: The sample included 113 White, 100 African American, and 167 Hispanic women with term pregnancies. They had a mean age of 22.3 years, mean parity of 1.9, and a mean prepregnant body mass index of 25.6. Most (86%) had vaginal deliveries and 28.4% were breastfeeding exclusively before hospital discharge. Variables Studied: Weights at post-delivery, 6 weeks, and 3 months postpartum. Methods: Weights were measured to 0.1 kg at post-delivery, 6 weeks, and 3 months postpartum by trained research staff using a state-of-the art electronic scale. Findings: To test if postpartum weight was biased by participant attrition from the study, post-delivery weights of women who dropped out were compared with those retained to 3 months and were not significantly different (F=0.07, NS). In a 3 (ethnicity) x 3 (time) analysis of variance, there was a significant main effect of time on postpartum weight (F=287.0, p < .001), but the main effect of ethnicity and the interaction of time and ethnicity were not significant. Pairwise comparisons showed that women had significant weight loss from post-delivery (79.2 kg) to 6 weeks postpartum (73.4 kg), t=34.3, p < .001. From 6 weeks to 3 months postpartum women's weight increased (73.9 kg), but this change was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Expected declines in postpartum weight occurred from post-delivery to the 6th postpartum week. Contrary to expectation, low income women in this sample gained, rather than lost, weight from 6 weeks to 3 months postpartum, though the mean weight change was not statistically significant. Implications: Although the study encompassed only the first 3 months postpartum, findings suggest that low income women may have shortened weight loss trajectory compared to those in European data. If this trend is sustained in forthcoming data at 6 and 12 months postpartum, it supports the need for weight loss interventions geared to needs of low income new mothers.
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