Weighting for baby

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-20 09:11

Kushner says the program at Northwestern is among the first in the country to tackle obesity in pregnancy. Pregnant women have often been considered hands-off because of fear of harming the developing baby but it now seems doing nothing may be doing more harm.

Doctors have referred about 20 women since the program started in November, and new ones come in each week.

Women meet for classes every other week on nutrition, stress and exercise and keep daily logs of their diets and activity levels. That is proving difficult for some women, who are already juggling work, childcare and weekly appointments with their obstetrician.

Charlotte Niznik, an advanced practice nurse who coordinates the program, says the team may start offering some of the services online. "Everything is flexible. If we're rigid, we'll never get participation."

A three-year grant allows the team to offer the program for free. They hope to attract more black and Hispanic women, who are at highest risk for obesity and its complications.

Niznik says several women in the program have had gastric bypass surgery and fear gaining too much weight.

"They are motivated to maintain a normal weight gain in pregnancy, which is no more than 7 kg, because these women are obese," Niznik says. "They are 130 kg to 180 kg."

At 90 kg, Nieves weighs considerably less than that, but her previous weight battles and rapid weight gain - 9 kg so far - make her a candidate.

During her last pregnancy, Nieves felt pressured by her obstetrician to gain weight. "I was about 100 kg. I would tell him 'I'm already overweight. I don't want to gain the weight'," she says.

"He would just tell me 'You have to gain a pound a week.' That's 40 pounds at the end of the pregnancy!"

She hopes the program will give her ammunition to resist some of the pressure she is getting to gain weight. "My background is Hispanic," she says. "My mother-in-law is like 'Oh my God, you are pregnant. Eat, eat, eat. The baby has to be nice and fat'. "

Dr Alan Peaceman, an obstetrician who co-directs the pregnancy and obesity program, says the near-term goal is to help women like Nieves have healthy pregnancies.

Down the road, they hope to gather data to see if it helps reduce complications for mothers and gives babies a better shot at having a healthy weight.

"If we can show that weight control during pregnancy reverses these trends, this is going to be one of the first successful approaches toward reducing childhood obesity, and that will be a major accomplishment," he says.

Previous 1 2 Next Page