Читать книгу Blooming Birth: How to get the pregnancy and birth you want - Lucy Atkins - Страница 28

Zoe, 33, was about three stone overweight at the start of her first pregnancy. ‘Because I am fat, my GP treated me like a pariah. I was barely through the door on my first visit and he was talking about caesareans.’ In the end, Zoe gave birth to her 8lb daughter in water after a healthy pregnancy and eight hours of drug-free labour.

If you are overweight you may, like Zoe, experience confidence-sapping comments. The best advice is listen to the health professionals but get facts not opinions or knee jerk prejudices (ask, if necessary, for references so you can look yourself). Do not allow anyone to force you into believing that because you are overweight, you will necessarily have a complicated pregnancy and birth. Here are the basic things you should know about obesity and pregnancy.

Being clinically obese (two to three stone overweight, BMI over 35), rather than just a bit chubby has the following documented risks:

1 It can be harder for midwives and doctors to assess the pregnancy and labour as it is harder to feel the baby and your womb. (Some health professionals, by the way, can be offensive. ‘I can’t see baby, because of too much mummy,’ snapped one sonographer to a friend of mine, who, while plump and curvaceous is certainly not vastly overweight.)

2 You will be, statistically, more prone to pregnancy complications like hypertension, pre-eclampsia and oedema – where your body swells more because of fluid retention.

3 You have a slightly higher risk of developing gestational diabetes and consequently of having a larger than average baby.

4 You have a slightly higher chance of having a caesarean section (because of the baby’s size, or your blood pressure).

5 If you are obese and have a caesarean you have a slightly higher risk of some operative complications.

Ask your doctor to refer you to a dietician for dietary advice and support during pregnancy if you are obese, and if any of the above worry you, discuss them in detail. Most overweight women have perfectly healthy babies.