Losing weight gained during pregnancy is something that worries many women before, during and after it. A recent study, conducted by Dr. Loraine Endres, an assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, has focused on finding risk factors for pregnancy weight retention after childbirth.
The study included data from more than 774 women from five locations in the US. Their height and weight information was recorded 6 and 12 months after giving birth. Participants were also interviewed about breastfeeding duration, physical activity, sleep and other lifestyle factors, relationship status, and work outside the home.
Participants had an average weight gain of 32 pounds while pregnant. Approximately 75% of them were heavier 1 year postpartum than they were pre-pregnancy. Of those, nearly half retained more than 10 pounds and nearly a quarter retained more than 20 pounds. One third of women of normal pre-pregnancy weight were overweight or obese 1 year after the birth.
“This unfortunately showed that pregnancy itself is leading to obesity or [being] overweight for a substantial number of women,” said study author Dr. Loraine Endres, an assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago.
Breastfeeding for 6 months and moderate exercise were associated with a decrease in risk, according with the study.
Endres said that modifying lifestyle behaviors may help prevent weight retention and the potential long-term health risks to women. New mothers’ weight loss efforts might benefit from more frequent health care visits after pregnancy than just the single doctor’s visit routinely offered six weeks after childbirth, Endres added. “Maybe we need to be seeing women more frequently” to help support them through this critical time, she concluded.
The study was published online Dec. 8 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Through: MedilinePlus
