This study has been conducted to investigate the changes of body composition during the gestational period. The subjects of this study consisted of 57 pregnant women who were in first trimester, 12~16 weeks. The follow-up studies were performed until postpartum 4 weeks. The results are as follow.
The Body weight increased starting from 53.2±1.2㎏ at pregnancy 12~16 week and kept increasing gradually until pregnancy 37~42 week. The body weight started to decrease after delivery and then reached 55.7±1.1㎏ at postpartum 4~6 week.
The body fat(%) was 18.4±0.7% at pregnancy 12~16 week and showed maximum point 19.5±0.8% at pregnancy 30~36 week. The body fat(%) showed decreasing tendency during postpartum and was 15.0±0.8% at postpartum 4~6 week. The total body water was 31.7±0.6ℓ at pregnancy 12~16 week and continued to increase as the pregnancy progressed. It reached maximum point 38.3±0.7L at pregnancy 37~42 week. The total body water showed decreasing tendency during postpartum and was 34.5±0.7% at postpartum 4~6 week.
When compared synthetically, starting from pregnancy 12~16 week to postpartum 4~6 week, the body weight and body volume were 2.41±0.46㎏ and 2.83±0.49L increase respectively. The total body water increased 2.24±0.43L, body surface area 0.029±0.005㎡, and body density 0.002±0.0004㎏/L. But, body fat(%) decreased 3.44±0.95%.
The age of both parents were negatively correlated to birth weight, r=0.3801 (p=0.0035) for maternal age and r=0.3534 (p=0.0075) for paternal age. Maternal body weight was positively correlated, r=0.3410 (p=0.0094).

Keywords: "Pregnancy, Body composition, Body mass index, Lean body mass, Body fat, Total body water, Body volume, Body density
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