Healthy weight loss post pregnancy

Pregnancy is associated with a number of physiological changes which due occur and are expected to be reversible after delivery.

Weight gain is one of the changes which will definitely occur during pregnancy. As the pregnancy keeps growing, the weight also keeps increasing. This is both due to increased food intake of the mother but also the growth of the foetus in the womb.

Generally, modest weight gain during pregnancy should be expected and should not raise any alarms.

However, it is possible that an expectant mother gains excessive weight which negatively affects her health during and after the pregnancy.

The big question remains, what would be the recommended weight gain acceptable during pregnancy? The answer is not easy and straight forward. It really depends on the body mass index (BMI) of a person before conceiving, which is a measure of body fat taking into consideration the weight and height of an individual.

The standard acceptable body mass index is between 18 and 25. Those with such BMI are considered normal and those above are considered overweight or obese depending on the score.

Now, for women who became pregnant while having normal BMI, the recommended weight gain during pregnancy ranges between 11 kgs and 15 kgs. It is important that women who are planning to become pregnant keep their BMI within the normal range.

Excessive weight gain during pregnancy has a lot of implications, may complicate delivery and can affect the health of the mother. Diabetes and hypertension are relevant in excessive weight gain.

The weight gained during pregnancy is expected to be shed off after pregnancy. Studies have estimated that mothers should not have retained more than 1.3 kgs.

This is almost going back to pre-pregnancy weight. In some instances, mothers retain more and this affects their overall health post-delivery.

In case of excessive weight retention, this could pose a great risk to develop non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to mention a few.

The good news is that, breastfeeding has been shown to significantly contribute to reducing and controlling post-delivery weight retention.

Studies have shown, if a mother who gained moderately about 12 kgs during pregnancy and breastfeeds exclusively for six months, she is likely to eliminate her post-delivery weight retention after six months regardless of her pregnancy BMI.

Further weight control is achieved with prolonged breastfeeding to recommended durations of 24 months.

Breastfeeding is indeed a very easy and cheap approach in controlling post-delivery weight retention. Women who plan to become pregnant must from the beginning plan to breastfeed especially exclusively during the first six months.

Much as we embrace new technologies, developmental changes and societal changes in our communities, breastfeeding must remain the core for newborn benefits but also relevant for the health of the mother especially in controlling post-delivery weight retention.

Pregnant women should embrace healthy eating behaviours, moderate and reasonable exercise on top of a commitment to breastfeed, in order to avoid all the health consequences which come with excessive weight gain.