A study from the American Journal of Public Health reports that women who are overweight or obese before they become pregnant are more likely than lean women to encounter complications during their pregnancy. The rate of occurrence of the complications increased as the women’s body mass index (BMI) increased.

Overweight or obese mothers also had a greater risk of adverse outcomes of their pregnancy. Complications included gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, Cesarean delivery and delivery of an exceptionally large child.

The report was based on a study of 96,800 women who gave birth to their first child in the state of Washington between 1992 and 1996.

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