Janice Smith*, Dr Maddy Arden, Dr Penny Furness, Dr Hora Soltani Exploring barriers specific to overweight women attempting to follow a healthy lifestyle throughout pregnancy and post-partum. Janice Smith*, Dr Maddy Arden, Dr Penny Furness, Dr Hora Soltani * janicesmith@shu.exchange.ac.uk Background An overweight maternal condition appears to have adverse implications for some women and their babies (Nuthalapaty & Rouse, 2004). Understanding what barriers overweight pregnant women face, in following a healthy lifestyle in pregnancy and postpartum, may be the first step in developing successful strategies to change their weight related health behaviours. These may differ from those experienced by obese women who have been the main focus of research to date (Powell & Hughes, 2012). Objective To investigate the potential barriers for overweight women in following a healthy lifestyle throughout pregnancy and postpartum. Design A mixed method design will be implemented to investigate, the potential barriers for overweight women in following a healthy lifestyle throughout pregnancy and postpartum. This will involve conducting an initial study of two focus groups, which will then inform the development of two further studies potentially. Study 1 Design: two separate focus groups; one with staff working within midwifery, and one with women who are currently pregnant or one year post partum. Aim: to understand, from women and healthcare professionals, what are the potential barriers overweight women face in following a healthy lifestyle in pregnancy and postpartum. Also, what advice staff provide to this population regarding healthy lifestyle in pregnancy and postpartum. Proposed Study 2 Design: Based on themes generated from the staff focus group a survey may be developed and administered on a much larger scale to healthcare professionals. Aim: to obtain healthcare professionals opinions on barriers they encounter when supporting overweight women to follow a healthy lifestyle in pregnancy, as well as, what information/advice they provide to this population. Proposed Study 3 Design: Cross sectional themes from Study 1 will inform issues to raise with women longitudinally. Aim: to identify what barriers overweight women face in following a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Also, to establish if barriers exist specific to each trimester, whether barriers modify at each stage and factors which potentially influence behavioural change.     Expected Outcomes Overall, the results would assist in understanding barriers specific to overweight women attempting to follow a healthy lifestyle, throughout pregnancy and postpartum. It would also contribute to an expanding pool of evidence of weight management research within maternity. The results could also potentially be salient in a number of ways: Data collated from women participating in the study may assist in the development of interventions designed to prevent excess weight gain throughout pregnancy, as well as manage overweight women’s weight more effectively. Data gathered from healthcare professionals may provide a more in-depth understanding on the range of advice different healthcare professionals provide to overweight pregnant women regarding lifestyle changes. This information may assist in the development of training programmes for healthcare professionals, to help them better provide consistent to overweight women throughout their pregnancy, and postpartum. References Nuthalapaty, F.S. & Rouse, D.J. (2004) The impact of obesity on obstetrical practice and outcome. Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 47, 898-913. Powell, J., & Hughes, C. (2012) Antenatal interventions that support obese pregnant women. British Journal of Midwifery, 20, 325-331.