Case Study: How A 'Morbidly Obese' Woman Weighing 160 Kg Gave Birth To A Healthy Baby

The patient, a 33-year-old woman, had been married for 14 years. But, she had failed to conceive, because of a history of hypothyroidism, along with menstrual irregularities. Her weight rose to 185 kg a few years ago.

Weight gain during pregnancy is natural, because the body is growing a whole human being inside. But, doctors often advice women to keep their weight in check and not gain unhealthy kilos when they are trying to conceive, because being overweight or obese can cause too many health complications, besides affecting fertility. Obesity refers to abnormal or excessive fat accumulation in the body that makes one overweight and presents a risk to health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered 'overweight', and over 30 is 'obese'. But recently, in what appears to be a unique case, a 33-year-old woman weighing 160 kg with a history of hypothyroidism gave birth to a healthy 3.2 kg baby after 14 years of marriage. Read on to find out more.

The Team Of Doctors

The patient had a cesarean section delivery under the care of Dr Mangala Patil, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road and her team, which comprised Dr S N Agarwal, neonatologist Dr Nitu Mundhra, endocrinologist Dr Harsh Parekh, and an anaesthesia team of Dr Devendra Deshmukh, Dr Farzeen Qureshi, and Dr Monal Shah. Post delivery, the mother and baby are in good health.

The Unique And Challenging Case

The patient, a 33-year-old woman, had been married for 14 years. But, she had failed to conceive, because of a history of hypothyroidism since childhood, along with menstrual irregularities and morbid obesity. Her weight rose to 185 kg a few years ago and she also underwent a bariatric surgery. Last year, she 'spontaneously' conceived and sought advice of doctors at Wockhardt Hospitals in the last 2-3 months of the gestation period, eventually delivering a healthy baby.

Obesity And Pregnancy

According to Dr Patil, obesity in pregnancy is considered to be high-risk, as it can be dangerous for the baby and the mother, affecting the pregnancy output. Obese women in pregnancy may face complications like preterm delivery, abortion, recurrent pregnancy loss, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, convulsions, and low birth weight babies, the doctor warned. She added that in high-risk pregnancies, a patient needs surgical intervention and has a high chance of undergoing cesarean section. "During delivery, the patient can have postpartum hemorrhage and need a blood transfusion. Post delivery, there are chances of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) due to morbid obesity."

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• The obese patient should go for weight reduction before conception through a proper diet plan, and lifestyle modifications.
• If they have thyroid disorder, hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease, the patient should go for a medical treatment to optimise the condition.
• Morbidly-obese patients are unable to reduce weight through diet and exercise, and are in a rush to lose weight. Bariatric surgery is an option.

In this case, the patient wanted to conceive, so she underwent bariatric surgery that helped her to reduce her weight from 185 kg to 130 kg.

"A high-risk pregnancy patient needs more frequent follow-ups and regular ultrasonography, along with proper diet and exercise. [This] patient followed everything. Normally, average weight gain in the pregnancy is 11 kg; in this case, it was 30 kg," said the doctor.