----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 1:34
PM
Subject: RE: [ozmidwifery] Weight gain in
pregnancy
Hi all,
I have been through my lactation textbooks,
which are getting a bit ancient I must admit, regarding the safety or
otherwise of dieting in pregnancy question. I was able to find a reference to
toxins in breastmilk in Breastfeeding Matters by Maureen Minchin on p28-30 "A
baby's exposure to toxins may be increased if his mother diets sufficiently to
break down body fat during lactation, as fat-soluble chemicals may be excreted
in milk. Hence mothers should not aim at rapid weight loss during lactation. "
It is easier for chemicals to get to the foetus than it is for them to get to
breast fed infants, so one may assume that there is some degree of risk during
pregnancy from dieting IF there are pesticides in the mother's fat stores. It
may be difficult to assess the degree of risk for a particular woman, but loss
of large amounts of fat, particularly fat that has been there a long
time, during pregnancy may be inadvisable.
I
have been trawling through some websites I obtained from a google search and
it seems that pesticides in human milk (and presumably in everyone's bodies)
are dropping, as many have been banned from use. However the number of sites
that I found indicate that this has been of concern to many poeple. Worth a
look, but I think the risks are fairly small unless a woman has been working
with the chemicals herself or perhaps if she lives on a farm where they have
used a lot of these chemicals in the past (they take a long time to break
down).
The other websites which mentioned dieting in pregnancy
advised against it due to the additional nutritional requirements of the
mother due to the needs of the fetus and physiological changes in the mother.
Personally, I always lose weight (up to 10kg) at the start of my pregnancies
due to 'morning sickness'. I usually regain this weight, plus a little more,
mainly in the last month. My pregnancy outcomes seem to be fine (kids now 7-19
years old).
From all of this I think it probably inadvisable to lose
large amounts of weight during pregnancy, and particularly for women who may
have had exposure to harmful chemicals. However, a small weight loss,
such as that achieved by Judy's friend (6kg), particularly if they are
gradual, might be OK. It seems like an area that could do with some more
research, however, it is not a topic that lends itself to a randomised
controlled trial!
Regards,
Nicole.
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