Warning for overweight mothers-to-be

OVERWEIGHT women are being warned by doctors not to “eat for two” in pregnancy.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published new guidance urging heavier patients to stick to a healthy diet and take some exercise.

The guidance says that, in general, women do not need extra calories for the first two-thirds of pregnancy and it is only in the last 12 weeks that they need an extra 200 calories a day.

Experts have become increasingly concerned in recent years about the growing numbers of mothers-to-be who are overweight and obese at the start of pregnancy.