Objective: To study the impact of nutrition counselling on maternal weight gain.

Methods: A cohort study was carried out on 40 pregnant women of age group 18-30 years in first trimester randomly selected from Harpur panchayat in Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar (India). Subjects were divided into two groups; control and experimental group. Nutrition counselling was imparted to experimental group in different sessions. Their weights gain before and after counselling was recorded.

Results: The weight gain of subjects in the experimental group was significantly (P≤0.05) higher during 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th month of pregnancy. About 60% of the subjects in experimental group and 3 per cent in control group had 10-12 kg of weight gain during pregnancy.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that there was a significant and positive impact of nutrition counselling during pregnancy on maternal weight gain and a sound healthy baby. Thus, nutrition counselling during pregnancy should be given utmost importance in reducing maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality.