They Say: Obese Women Should Put On Zero Kg in Pregnancy
Posted by Amber Robinson at 1:54 PM on May 21, 2009
Pregnancy used to be a time for guilt-free food enjoyment, but as more women in Australia conceive when they are already overweight or obese, experts are questioning how much weight gain is healthy – for mother or baby.
A new ABC health article has pointed to several studies which suggest that obese women should gain no more than 0-6kg during pregnancy, which would actually reduce their overall body fat.
This does increase the risk of a baby being born smaller than otherwise predicted – but experts say this is better than the complications of conditions associated with excess weight gain, like pre-eclampsia.
Research on more than 120,000 obese pregnant women in the United States, also conducted in 2007, found that women with BMIs under 35 should gain no more than 4.5 to 11.3 kilograms, while those with higher BMIs should gain no more than zero to four kilograms.
But as most pregnant women know, controlling weight gain is not that easy.
“It’s probably possible, but it’s a very difficult thing to ask people to do,” says obstetric physician Dr Leonie Callaway, from the Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane.
Callaway suggests 30mins of exercise per day, such as water-based exercise to take pressure off joints.
I find pregnancy weight gain so confusing. Some smaller friends seem to stack it, despite regular exercise, while others gain hardly anything and eat whatever they like. I was pregnant in summer last time, and I’d say at least 5kg of weight gain was pure fluid retention – gross.
Did you try to control weight gain while pregnant?
Seriously?
I’m due today with my 4th baby and have gained well over 20kg with each pregnancy…. and yet lost that in the 6 weeks post birth… I consider that my ‘normal’. For me to gain no weight in pregnancy, I would consider that risky… as is pushing the ‘antifat woman agenda’.
For reading on scare providing to fat women see here: http://wellroundedmama.blogspot.com/2009/05/care-providers-vs-scare-providers.html
Rather than focusing on what pregnant women shouldn’t do or eat, a healthier approach is to focus on what should be done: eat the healthiest daily diet, in the amount that corresponds to the individual’s metabolism, and perform moderate level, low impact exercise on most days of the week. That’s how to optimize maternal and fetal health.