Weight Bias in Obstetrics

Purpose of Review Our goal is to describe the prevalence and harms of weight stigma and bias in obstetric care in order to challenge the current weight-centric model of care. Recent Findings Weight stigma and bias are commonly experienced by pregnant people when seeking medical care. Weight stigma has the potential to cause adverse pregnancy outcomes through allostatic load, avoidance of care to avoid stigma, and inequities in provision of care to people of higher weight. The BMI was not established as a measure of health and is not a strong predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes, despite existing associations. Although there are many associations between higher BMI and adverse pregnancy outcomes, those associations have not accounted for the possible concurrent harms of weight stigma and weight cycling. Both weight loss recommendations and routine weighing in pregnancy care are not supported by evidence and warrant reconsideration. Summary We encourage people to take simple steps to decrease weight bias in their care of pregnant people and to reconsider the associations between BMI and adverse pregnancy outcomes.