 and Dr. Sreeja Rani working as a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at Manipal Hospital's Whitefield. Obesity is diagnosed when your body mass index is more than 30. Body mass index is your weight in kilogram divided by height in meter squared. If your body mass index is less than 18.5 you are considered underweight. 18.5 to 24.9 is the ideal body weight. 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight and anything above 30 is considered obese. Yes, it can affect your ability to get pregnant. When your body mass index is high it means adipose tissue in your body is high. The adipose tissue contains an enzyme which converts other hormones into estrogen. This can cause polycystic ovarian syndrome which might inhibit your ovulation. So people who are obese may take a longer time to get pregnant. A high body mass index can affect your pregnancy in many ways. One is it increases the risk of miscarriages and stillbirth. Stillbirth is a condition where the baby dies inside the uterus. Second is it can cause gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is diabetes developing during pregnancy. It can also cause gestational hypertension. Cardiac dysfunction also sleep apnea. It increases the risk of caesarean section and also complications after caesarean section like wound infection. High body mass index during pregnancy can also affect the baby in many ways. It can cause a large birth weight baby. It can cause birth defects if your blood sugar level is high during pregnancy. It can sometimes cause impact growth of the baby. Sometimes childhood asthma and childhood obesity for the baby. Normally in pregnancy we check for gestational diabetes around 24 to 28 weeks. But if you are obese we do a screening for gestational diabetes early in pregnancy. Also we do serial fetal growth scans to look for fetal growth. And screening for obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious condition which causes your breathing to repeatedly stop and start during your sleep. To have a healthy pregnancy the care should start from even before you get pregnant. We call it pre-conceptional care. When you plan to get pregnant please meet your doctor. The doctor will advise you how to reduce weight and the ideal body weight you should have. And when you get pregnant you should have regular antenatal checkups. Also you should have a healthy diet during pregnancy. And be physically active. And you should avoid active or passive smoking and alcohol.