Lifestyle Interventions for Expectant Moms

Studies have shown that overweight and obese women are at increased risk for several complications of pregnancy, including gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertension, preeclampsia, and cesarean delivery. Additionally, the children of overweight or obese pregnant women show an increased risk of prematurity, congenital anomalies, and childhood obesity. The Lifestyle Interventions for Expectant Mothers (LIFE-Moms) consortium was a network of seven clinical centers and a data coordinating center to identify effective behavioral and lifestyle interventions that improve weight, glycemic control, and outcomes in obese and overweight pregnant women and their children.

Participants were randomized between 9 weeks 0 days and 15 weeks 6 days gestation, and followed through one-year postpartum. Standardized measures were collected throughout gestation: at baseline (9-15 weeks), 24-27 weeks, 35-36 weeks, delivery, and one-year postpartum. Eligibility criteria, specific outcome measures, and assessment procedures were standardized across trials. Measures that were collected in all seven trials were defined as ‘core’ data and measures collected by four to six trials were defined as ‘super-shared’ data. All core and super-shared measures had a standardized definition and/or detailed procedures to facilitate uniform collection, a standardized training and certification process, and were entered into a common dataset at the data coordinating center.