Dr. Laura Mroue, MD

Fitbit Devices

for Pregnancy Weight Control

There are set guidelines for weight gain developed by the Institute of Medicine in pregnancy but about three quarters of women gain an inappropriate weight during pregnancy. Many studies have assessed ways to decrease weight gain in these women who gain excess weight, usually through a combination of diet and exercise. Still, often these interventions are difficult to implement, expensive, or have low acceptability. Wearable Fitbit devices have been on the market for years and slowly becoming more inexpensive and easier to use. Previous studies on non-pregnant women have shown that using the device can help reduce weight gain. In addition, small studies in pregnant women have shown they are accurate for measuring steps and have high acceptability and retention rates. The ability of the Fitbit to assess metrics of sleep including sleep duration and quality will also be assessed. This project aims to provide overweight and obese pregnant women at the beginning of their pregnancy with the Fitbit device and with regular follow-up to assess if there is effectiveness in increasing the rate of women who meet weight gain guidelines compared to women without the device along with measuring aspects of sleep.