Promoting Healthy Weights, Lifestyles and Nutrition in Pregnancy

Research has shown that a woman\'s lifestyle during pregnancy can predict the future health of a mother and her child. Improving the health of a mother during pregnancy can lead to the best health outcomes for mother and child in the short and long-term period. Currently there is a lack of understanding about how best to support women to achieve healthy weights during pregnancy. The aim of this study is to understand if additional lifestyle support, such as discussions about healthy eating and physical activity provided by a healthcare provider throughout pregnancy can help women achieve weights concordant with gestational recommendations. The healthcare providers in this study will be Registered Dietitians (RD). The intervention RD will be trained in Healthy Conversations, a supportive method of communication that utilizes open-ended questions to support patient-centered behaviour change. This allows women to explore health issues, identify barriers and discover solutions for improving their own health. This supportive prenatal counselling will occur with the intervention group concurrently while completing lifestyle questionnaires with the study RD. During these conversations, health goals will be made and will be followed up at future visits. The control group will complete the lifestyle questionnaires with the control RD; they will not receive additional lifestyle support at these visits. Women will be randomized into one of the two study groups and will be blinded to their study allocation. All participants will complete two in person visits and two follow-up telephone calls. Data will be collected on diet, physical activity, gestational weight gain, delivery, and infant outcomes. After this research is complete, the investigators hope to better understand the quantity and quality of additional support that may help women in Alberta achieve guideline concordant weight gain during pregnancy. If interventions can help women gain weight within the guidelines, pregnancy-related complications can be reduced. This information is also aimed at providing a better understanding of healthcare system requirements (i.e., type of providers and care model) in supporting women achieve healthy weights in pregnancy. The findings from this project have the potential to improve prenatal healthcare delivery across the province.