The blood circulatory system (cardiovascular system) delivers nutrients and oxygen to all cells in the body. It consists of the heart and the blood vessels running through the entire body. The arteries carry blood away from the heart; the veins carry it back to the heart.The system of blood vessels resembles a tree: The trunk, the main artery (aorta), branches into large arteries, which lead to smaller and smaller vessels.he arteries carry blood away from the heart; the veins carry it back to the heart. The system of blood vessels resembles a tree: The trunk, the main artery (aorta), branches into large arteries, which lead to smaller and smaller vessels.
You probably won't return to your pre-pregnancy weight for some time, but you will lose a significant amount of weight immediately after delivery. Subtracting one 7- to 8-pound baby, about a pound or so of placenta, and another few pounds of blood and amniotic fluid leaves most new moms about 12 pounds lighter.he weight keeps coming off, too. All the extra water your cells retained during pregnancy, along with fluid from the extra blood you had in your pregnant body, will be looking for a way out. So you'll produce more urine than usual in the days after birth â an astounding 3 quarts a day. You may perspire a lot, too.
One-fifth of pregnant women in the United States are obese, and more and more doctors are advising them to watch their weight if they want an easy pregnancy and a smooth delivery. In May, the Institute of Medicine issued guidelines lowering the minimum recommended weight gain for obese women to 11 pounds, from 15. Now, a large four-year trial called the Healthy Moms study is going further, trying to keep obese pregnant women from gaining any weight at all. If they do gain weight, researchers want it limited to 3 percent of their baseline weight, about 5 pounds for a woman who weighs 170 pounds.