Here's what a typical 24-pound gain might include:

Guidelines for Nutrition During Pregnancy
These guidelines are intended to help you achieve a balanced diet. As you make choices within food groups, try to remember which foods are especially rich in essential nutrients and include them often. If you eat a variety of carefully chosen foods from the different food groups, your diet is likely to provide all needed nutrients.

The Bread Group - You should consume 6-11 servings per day of breads, cereals, rice and pasta. One serving is one slice of bread, or ½ half cup of cooked cereal, or 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal.

The Vegetable Group - A general range of 3-5 servings per day from the vegetable group is recommended. Vary vegetable selections since different types of vegetables provide different nutrients. Serving size is generally ½ cup of cooked vegetables or one cup of raw vegetables.

The Fruit Group - A range of two to four servings per day is recommended. A serving size generally is ½ cup chopped, cooked or canned fruit, or one medium sized apple, pear or orange. Fruit drinks don't count.

The Milk Group - 2-3 servings daily from the milk group provides calcium, protein, vitamins and other nutrients.

The Meat Group - Choices should include 2-3 servings daily. All visible fat should be trimmed before broiling, roasting or boiling.

Fats, Oils and Sweets - Use these sparingly or not at all since these occur naturally in other food groups. . Don't diet to lose weight or even to maintain your previous weight level while you are pregnant. Your baby and your hardworking body need the recommended calories and nutrients. The recommended weight gain is essential to your baby's health.

How much you gain is important, but so is the rate at which you gain. A slow steady increase during the second and third trimesters - about a pound every 8-10 days - is preferable to erratic weight changes. A typical weight gain of twenty-four to thirty pounds would be distributed as follows: 3-4 pounds during the first three months, 10-12 pounds during the second three months, and 11-14 pounds during the last three months.

Obesity in Pregnancy
Even if a woman is extremely obese she should still gain weight during pregnancy to nourish her unborn child with nutrients from fresh foods rather than from her own fat reserves. The mother's stored fat will not nourish the fetus. In fact, breakdown of the mother's fat reserves may even cause harm. Burning of stored fat can release potentially dangerous chemicals called ketones into the mother's blood stream.

It's very important for an overweight woman to use careful planning of her food intake. She should avoid packaged diet products for weight loss or food fads. If she has been on a reducing diet prior to pregnancy, she should stop the calorie curtailment as soon as she knows she is pregnant. If she is more than 20 percent over her ideal weight, however, she may gain weight at a slightly slower rate than what would normally be recommended. An extremely overweight woman may be advised to limit her weight gain to only twenty pounds. Any smaller gain is likely to be at the baby's expense.