The findings of a maternal obesity study, conducted by the researchers of Newcastle University, establish that obesity in pregnant women increases the chances of serious abnormalities in babies, including spina bifida or other neural tube defects affecting the brain and spinal cord.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, February 11 issue, analyzed data from 31 cases before concluding that obese mothers-to-be are at a two times more risk of having babies with birth defects.

Obesity is a condition in which a person's BMI - Body Mass Index - which is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared - is over 30. As per this calculation of BMI, almost one-fifth of pregnant women in the UK can be categorized as obese.

Other than spina bifida and neural tube defects, a link has also been established between maternal obesity and other congenital anomalies in babies, like heart defects, cleft lip and palate, and anencephaly - a defect in brain development. Such birth defects are often the reason behind still births and infant mortality.

The study senior author Judith Rankin opines that a link between a mother's weight and abnormalities in the baby could be due to nutritional insufficiency, lack of folic acid or unobserved diabetes in the mother. Top clinicians say that anti-obesity crusades on women of child-bearing age should be given priority by the government. (Harkiran contributed to this report)