Lay summary
Excess gestational weight gain (GWG) increases the risk of adverse outcomes for mother and baby, e.g. gestational diabetes, postpartum weight retention, and large for gestational age babies. An estimated 75-80% of women who birth in NZ have sub-optimal GWG. We assessed the feasibility of our midwife-delivered intervention designed to guide individualised dietary advice for pregnant women to facilitate optimal GWG. Eight midwives recruited 27 pregnant women, and delivered the intervention as part of antenatal care. Fourteen of these women (51.9%; 95%CI: 33.0%, 70.7%) achieved their recommended GWG. An independent qualitative evaluation reported participating midwives spoke positively about the intervention. We plan to undertake a multicentre pragmatic trial to examine the effectiveness of our midwife-delivered weight management tool on GWG. Our next step is to further develop relationships with the high risk communities where the study will be undertaken, update our literature review, and refine the study design and data collection.