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overweight and obesity in women of reproductive age are increasing and are often linked with excessive weight gain in pregnancy and weight retention after birth. Studies on spontaneous maternal weight trajectory after childbirth are scarce.

we describe women's spontaneous weight trajectory during the first six weeks of the postpartum period and its relationship between Body Mass Index and socio-demographical, behavioural and psychological variables.

data from 212 women who gave birth in three regional hospitals were collected prospectively between December 2015 and February 2016. Potential determinants were examined during pregnancy and the postpartum period at four and six weeks after childbirth. Descriptive statistics and a linear multivariate regression model were used. Early postnatal weight retention (PWR) was defined as the difference between the maternal weight …