Australian women, like the majority of women globally, are older and weigh more than women from previous decades when entering pregnancy.

New research published today in The BMJ shows that around two thirds of pregnancies have weight gain that is more or less than recommended, and is associated with complications such as preterm birth, higher birth weight, and admission to intensive care.

Key points:

Confidence in previous study findings is low to critically low

Women should be advised to take paracetamol when needed to treat pain and fever in pregnancy, say researchers