Can Weight Watchers (WW) Help Address Maternal Obesity? An Audit of Weight Change in Women of Childbearing Age and Mothers-To-Be, Referred into a Commercial Slimming Programme.

Referral of obese mothers-to-be into WW can successfully achieve short-term weight loss, at or above 5%, in approximately one third of participants. The dose-response effect supports a causal inference. Successful weight loss at this critical life stage may provide women with the necessary motivation to initiate weight loss for healthy pregnancy, however further research is required.