Results
Participant flow and baseline characteristics
The participant flow in the FeLIPO study is summarized in Figure 1. Eighty three and 167 women were in the standard care and intervention group, respectively. Four (5%) and eight (5%) women in the control and intervention group, respectively, withdrew from the study due to one of the following reasons: relocation, complications during pregnancy, loss of contact, or undefined personal reasons. Two miscarriages occurred in the intervention group: one due to ruptured membranes before the first counseling session, and one due to an infection shortly after the first counseling session. One woman in the intervention group terminated her pregnancy (fetus diagnosed as a trisomy 21). One hundred and fifty six (93%) women in the intervention group attended both counseling sessions. Women who gave birth preterm (delivery before 37 weeks of gestation) were excluded from the GWG analysis. Seventy two (87% of included women) and 152 (91% of included women) of the control and intervention group, respectively, could be contacted at the fourth month follow-up consultation. Baseline characteristics and lifestyle factors for both groups are presented in Table 1. Median self-reported weight and BMI before pregnancy were, although slightly, significantly higher in the control group compared with the intervention group, which resulted from a greater proportion of overweight and obese women in the control group (31% vs. 16%). Similarly, the median measured weight at the first antenatal visit (booking) was higher among participants in the control group. When compared with self-reported prepregnancy weight, the median weight at booking was 1.9 and 1.7 kg higher in the control and intervention group, respectively. All other baseline and lifestyle-related factors were comparable between groups. We considered baseline characteristics showing significant differences between groups as adjustment variables in the analyses.