Factors Associated With Gestational Weight Gain Among Nurses in Korea

Objective: To identify risk factors associated with inadequate and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) among nurses in Korea. Design: Secondary analysis of data from the Korea Nurses' Health Study, a nationwide prospective cohort study. Setting: Online surveys distributed from 2014 to 2023 in Korea. Participants: Nurses (N = 296) who gave birth in the past year. Methods: We categorized GWG using guidelines from the Institute of Medicine and conducted bivariate and logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with inadequate and excessive GWG. Results: Among participants, 40.2% had inadequate GWG, 36.1% had adequate GWG, and 23.7% had excessive GWG. We found significant differences in GWG based on pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and weekly overtime hours worked. As age increased, the odds of excessive GWG decreased (odds ratio (OR) = 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.79, 0.99]), whereas higher levels of fatigue were associated with increased odds (OR = 1.08, 95% CI [1.01, 1.15]) of excessive GWC. Conclusion: Our study suggests that health care providers should consider ethnicity, pre-pregnancy BMI, overtime work hours, age, and fatigue levels when educating and caring for pregnant nurses. Although the findings reflect a specific maternal population of Korean nurses, they may inform care for similar working women. We recommend that information about GWG be incorporated into prenatal education, visits, checklists, and counseling for women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.