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Hi all,
I'm a midwifery student, and last semester completed an
assignment on nutrition and weight gain in pregnancy. I repeatedly
found literature that advised against losing weight in pregnancy
because of all of the reasons that have already been discussed on
this thread, such as the release of toxins, and the fact that an
"overweight" woman does not necessarily mean someone who is less healthy
than someone who is deemed "slim". The key seemed to be adequate
nutrition more than anything else.
I found a guideline that recommended that women who had a BMI
of less than 19.8 should gain between 12.5 to 18kg, BMI 19.8 - 26
(11.5-16kg) BMI 26-29 (7-11.5kg) and BMI larger than 29 (at least
7kg). I dont have a reference for this info, but am happy to share
other references i found for the assignment.
Samantha
-------Original
Message-------
Date: 01/29/06
20:13:02
Subject: RE:
[ozmidwifery] Weight gain in pregnancy
Hi Amanda,
As I said, the risks are small, and decreasing all the time. I
was stating that the information that we have (about toxins being
released into the blood stream when weight is lost by women who are
breast feeding) should be a caution to anyone who wishes to
intentionally lose a large amount of weight when pregnant
or breast feeding. I would never ever suggest that women should
stop breastfeeding because of fear of these toxins, unless the risk
outweighed the benefits, and I would not be the judge of that.
Kind regards,
Nicole.
I was always told that one of the best ways
to get rid of extra pregnancy kilo's (usually stored as fat) was to
breastfeed? whether your start weight at the beginning of
pregnancy was 110kg or 50kg there will be excess fat in
the body, should we stop breastfeeding for fear of these
toxins? Some women like me (luckily, but only for the first month)
lose weight after giving birth very rapidly without even trying, I
droped 18kg in two weeks after my second baby was born (I am also
overweight). Mothers and Mothers-to-be have enough stress as it is
without this, I say- baby healthy, mum healthy then job well done
on her behalf!
Aren't there more toxins in the air we
breath than those released by fat cells in weight
loss?
Amanda
----- 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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