Table 1. Participants’ characteristics, mean ± sd or number (percent).
| Variables | Trimester 1 N = 38 |
Trimester 2 N = 53 |
Trimester 3 N = 50 |
Total N = 141 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 28.63±5.22 | 30.58±4.80 | 31.90±5.31 | 30.52±5.22 |
| Weight (Kg)a | 64.41±12.03 | 66.80±9.72 | 71.46±9.45 | 67.81±10.63 |
| Pre-gestational BMI (Kg/m2) | 23.31±3.86 | 22.59±3.14 | 22.66±2.87 | 22.81±3.25 |
| Weight gain (Kg)a | 2.86±1.78 | 5.89±3.24 | 10.73±4.87 | 6.79±4.81 |
| Weight gain / week (Kg / week) | 0.31±0.20 | 0.27±0.20 | 0.35±0.15 | 0.31±0.19 |
| Gestational weeka | 9.45±2.83 | 20.25±4.48 | 30.94±4.25 | 21.13±9.36 |
| Number of previous deliveries | 0.58±0.79 | 0.70±0.80 | 0.90±0.95 | 0.74±0.86 |
| Pre-gestational BMI: | ||||
| Underweight | 0(0.0%) | 2(3.8%) | 1(2.0%) | 3(2.1%) |
| Normal | 29(76.3%) | 40(75.5%) | 39(78.0%) | 108(76.6%) |
| Overweight | 8(21.1%) | 10(18.9%) | 8(16.0%) | 26(18.4%) |
| Obese | 1(2.6%) | 1(1.9%) | 2(4.0%) | 4(2.8%) |
| Nulliparousa | 23(60.5%) | 26(49.1%) | 21(42.0%) | 70(49.6%) |
| Education: | ||||
| Primary | 6(15.8%) | 8(15.1%) | 4(8.0%) | 18(12.8%) |
| Secondary | 14(36.8%) | 13(24.5%) | 9(18.0%) | 36(25.5%) |
| University | 18(47.4%) | 32(60.4%) | 37(74.0%) | 87(61.7%) |
| Occupational category: | ||||
| Workers | 11(28.9%) | 27(50.9%) | 29(58.0%) | 67(47.5%) |
| Housewives | 27(71.1%) | 26(49.1%) | 21(42.0%) | 74(52.5%) |
| Smoking before pregnancy | 13(34.2%) | 18(34.0%) | 20(40.0%) | 51(36.2%) |
| Smoking during pregnancy | 0(0.0%) | 1(1.9%) | 4(8.0%) | 5(3.5%) |
| Caffeine intake | 14(36.8%) | 27(50.9%) | 30(60.0%) | 71(50.4%) |
| Alcohol intake | 5(13.2%) | 6(11.3%) | 2(4.0%) | 13(9.2%) |
| Medical problems encountered during previous pregnancies | 2(5.3%) | 2(3.8%) | 5(10.0%) | 9(6.4%) |
| Medical problems encountered during previous deliveries | 3(7.9%) | 1(1.9%) | 6(12.0%) | 10(7.1%) |
| Vitamins, Calcium and/or folic acid intake | 20(52.6%) | 38(71.7%) | 37(74.0%) | 95(67.4%) |
aSignificant differences between the trimesters (p-value <0.0001; Kruskal-Wallis test followed by multiple comparison tests after adjustment of alpha error).