Background: Excessive gestational weight gain is related to postpartum weight retention and multiple short- and long-term adverse outcomes. These include pregnancy related complications as preeclampsia and higher rates of cesarean delivery and long-term morbidities as future obesity and metabolic syndrome. Even so, more than half of the pregnant women gain excessive weight during their pregnancy. Methods: This review included a database search of Medline, ClinicalKey, PubMed, PubMed Central, Scopus, Ovid, and the Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews. We included original articles, systematic reviews and meta-analysis published in peer-reviewed journals between January 1990 and October 2020 that addressed the correlation between excessive gestational weight gain, postpartum weight retention and maternal health issues. Only articles published in the English language that were available at full length, were included in this review. Results and discussion: After reviewing the literature, we discuss the risk factors for excessive gestational weight gain, the association between excessive gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention and the implications of excessive gestational weight gain on women’s future health. Finally, we highlight future research opportunities related to these issues.