The Effect of Obesity and Pregnancy Weight Gain on Maternal and Child Health.

In this study, we estimate the effect of prepregnancy obesity and excessive pregnancy weight gain on infant and maternal health outcomes. We rely on a large sample of maternally linked restricted data from 2004 to 2019 South Carolina birth certificates, which allow us to track the same mothers during multiple pregnancies over a period of more than 15 years. To address possible limitations of previous research, we account for genetic confounders and unobservable maternal and environmental factors by relying on a maternal fixed effects strategy.