Improving the well-being of mothers, infants, and children is an important public health goal. Over the past half century, the medical guidance provided to women before, during, and after pregnancy to achieve this goal has changed dynamically when public health trends change. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine introduced new guidelines on weight gain during pregnancy. How effective are these medical guidelines in reaching their desired goal? Vidhura Tennekoon, an Assistant Professor in Economics at IU Indianapolis has analyzed 34 million US birth records and concluded that the national guidelines have induced some behavioral changes among US women during their pregnancy but not sufficiently when compared to the expectations. Click here to read the article, published in the open access journal PLOS Global Health.
