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Objective  To minimise obese women’s total weight gain during pregnancy to less than 7 kg and to investigate the delivery and neonatal outcome.

Design  A prospective case–control intervention study.

Setting  Antenatal care clinics in the southeast region of Sweden.

Population  One hundred fifty‐five pregnant women in an index group and one hundred ninety‐three women in a control group.

Methods  An intervention programme with weekly motivational talks and aqua aerobic classes for obese pregnant women.

Main outcome measures  Weight gain in kilograms, delivery and neonatal outcome.

Results  The index group had a significantly lower weight gain during pregnancy compared with the control group (P < 0.001). The women in the index group weighed less at the postnatal check‐up compared with the weight registered in early pregnancy (P < 0.001). The percentage of women in the index group …