Lisa Bragg
Ilkley-based community midwife Lisa Bragg tells us about weight watching in pregnancy and her top tips for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Thank you to Lisa for sharing this with us.
Lisa also runs Offsprings antenatal classes in Ilkley.
This is a topical but sensitive issue to address. Midwives are seeing an increasing number of women who are overweight at the start of their pregnancy. Some of these women are only slightly overweight to start with but go on to gain further excessive weight in pregnancy.
As a Midwife it is very important to me to build good relationships with the women I care for and I do not want to be seen as the ‘Fat Police’!, but I also have a professional responsibility to encourage healthy lifestyles as these contribute towards reducing risks during pregnancy and childbirth.
Many pregnant women I care for who are a normal weight or overweight do not realise that they do not need to consume more than the recommended daily calorie intake for women. Except in the last 3 months of pregnancy, where an extra 100-200 calories per day are required unfortunately this is not much! approx a yogurt and an apple extra per day. It is important to eat a healthy balanced diet during pregnancy and if you do feel hungrier than usual try to satisfy this hunger with healthy foods.
Not much fun!!
I know this advice can seem mean and punitive and there is certainly nothing wrong with the odd slice of cake as a treat. Women often take pleasure in enjoying calorific foods during pregnancy especially as there are strict guidelines on alcohol and caffeine consumption, but I believe that if women are properly informed of the risks of excessive weight gain in pregnancy they would choose to monitor their diet carefully.
What are the risks?
Women with a BMI over 30 are at increased risk of:
- Miscarriage
- High blood pressure
- Pregnancy diabetes
- A difficult or complicated labour
- Caesarean complications
- Stillbirth
- Blood clots in your body
- Severe bleeding
- Anaesthetic complications
- Dying during pregnancy or childbirth
What are the risks to baby
The quality of scan images may be poor, which can mean it is difficult to exclude abnormalities.
It can be difficult for your midwife to assess how your baby is growing during your pregnancy. This is important because babies that are not growing properly are at risk.
Therefore you may be offered growth scans throughout your pregnancy.
It may be difficult to monitor your baby’s heartbeat during labour, due to increased abdominal fat. This makes it challenging to assess how your baby is coping with the stress of labour.
Your movement may be restricted during labour, due to difficulties monitoring your baby this can reduce your chances of a normal birth
The baby’s shoulders are more likely to get stuck in the birth canal [shoulder dystocia].
What can you do to minimise these risks
It’s not all doom and gloom there are many ways you can minimise these risks!!
- Eat a healthy balanced diet during pregnancy
- Satisfy your increased appetite with healthy foods that release energy slowly
- Discuss weight issues openly with your midwife of GP
- Keep a close eye on your weight gain in pregnancy [Your midwife will be happy to do this if you would like her to]
- If you exercise regularly and it is an exercise considered safe in pregnancy continue to do this. If you do not usually exercise speak to your Midwife or GP about starting a gentle exercise in pregnancy. Regular walking or swimming is a good start.
- There are approved weight loss and weight maintenance programmes for pregnant women, speak to your Midwife or GP about these.
- Remember the goal in sight is a healthy mum and baby. If you follow a healthy diet you will return more quickly to your pre pregnancy weight and be fit and healthy for your new life with your baby.
Further information
If you would like to discuss the issues raised in this feature, you could do so in our baby chat section. You can also speak directly to your midwife at you next antenatal appointment. She (or he) will be happy to help you achieve a healthy weight for your and your baby – for now and for life.
