Trends in maternal obesity and health inequalities in a nationally representative sample of 619 323 births in England, UK, 1989-2007

Maternal obesity has serious implications to the health of both mothers and infants, including maternal and neonatal death, stillbirth, congenital anomalies, poor breastfeeding rates, and obesity in the offspring. There are also additional complications during antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods which impact on maternity services. However, there is an absence of national statistics for maternal obesity in the UK. This study is the first to describe a nationally representative …