A new study shows that obese women are more likely to retain some of their pregnancy weight gain postpartum. Researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research studied 1,700 obese women that gave birth between 2000 and 2005. Seventy percent of them exceeded the suggested weight gain for their weight category; those who surpassed this weight limit by 15 pounds or more had a more difficult time losing the weight after they had their babies (over an 18 month period).
Losing weight isn’t about temporarily skipping the dessert table or making a few extra trips to the gym until you reach your goal. To really lose and maintain a healthy weight, a lifestyle change is required, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Women who are obese (unless for specific health reasons) do not have healthy eating and exercise habits. There is no reason that pregnancy will magically change this, and so they continue their unhealthy habits throughout pregnancy, gaining more than the recommended amount of weight and putting them at risk for further complications. Likewise, after the baby is born, this change does not automatically restore healthy eating and exercise. It is no surprise that many women who are overweight before pregnancy are also overweight after pregnancy. It’s more likely that she will weigh more, rather than less, than she did before she got pregnant.
There is a reason New Year’s resolutions often fail. Huge life changes like diet and exercise habits don’t happen easily. They take a lot of time and motivation. The emotional ups and downs of pregnancy and the postpartum period make it even more stressful, and it is not an ideal time to make dramatic life changes. Certainly it is not healthy to eat a very restrictive diet and exercise too vigorously during pregnancy. After pregnancy, if a woman is breastfeeding, it is important to eat a certain number of calories to maintain an adequate milk supply.
That is why the best time to lose weight and change your lifestyle is before you conceive. It is in your best interest, and your baby’s, for you to be as healthy as possible when you conceive. Obesity puts you at risk for gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, edema, and preeclampsia during pregnancy. It can also put your baby at risk. And if you maintain a healthy weight before you are pregnant, you’ll be much more likely to return to that weight after you have your baby because you will already be used to living a healthy lifestyle.