Magnitude and determinants of inadequate third-trimester weight gain in rural Bangladesh.

Among rural Bangladeshi women in Matlab, third-trimester weight gain was in general poor. Maternal characteristics such as short stature, low BMI, advanced age, parity, low level of education and socioeconomic status, being Hindu, intake of arsenic contaminated water, and conceiving during monsoon or dry season were the risk factors for inadequate weight gain in the third trimester. Special attention should be given during prenatal care to women with the risk factors identified in this study.