Pennington gets $3.5 million grant to research weight gain during pregnancy

Pennington Biomedical Research Center has been awarded a five-year, $3.5 million grant by the National Institutes of Health to research and develop an effective approach to managing weight gain during pregnancy. The study will seek to measure the effectiveness of using smartphones to assist in expectant mothers’ efforts to manage weight gain during pregnancy. Called “Smart Moms,” the approach was developed at Pennington and for the first time will be used with pregnant women. The study will compare the effectiveness of the smartphone intervention with traditional approaches, including standard care and advice provided by the mother’s physician, as well as an in-person weight management program to be conducted at Pennington. The study, “Expecting Success: Personalized Management of Body Weight during Pregnancy,” will be conducted in partnership with Woman’s Hospital of Baton Rouge. In most cases, pregnant women are gaining weight in excess of the recommended guidelines. As a result, both mothers and babies are faced with an increasing probability of poor health. Pennington Biomedical is one of seven institutions across the country to be awarded a multiyear grant for the study. Researchers at Pennington, along with co-investigators, physicians, and staff from Woman’s Hospital, will recruit over 300 pregnant women to participate in the study. Recruitment for the study is slated to begin next summer. Women will be recruited into the study during their first trimester, and researchers will follow each woman and her baby for one year following birth.