Myths About Weight During Pregnancy

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“You have not gained weight????” “Are you not eating for 2( your baby and yourself)?” “You are looking so weak, and you must increase your weight. Eat a lot of ghee, drink milk and then only your baby will be strong and healthy.”

Most of my friends, neighbours & relatives used to ask these questions. I used to question myself “ If I am not gaining much weight, does that mean this is not a healthy pregnancy?”.

I was very much confused because the doctor told me that I cannot gain much weight because my weight is already on a higher side. Therefore, I decided to have a conversation with my doctor. I asked my doctor, and he said: "The truth is if you have not gained much weight in pregnancy, then that does not mean you are not having a healthy pregnancy".

Moreover, he also said, "NOTHING WILL GO WRONG even if I do not gain much weight during my pregnancy." Now, I am the live example that I gained only 5kg in my entire pregnancy and out of which 3.2 kg was my baby's weight and around 0.7 kilograms of the placenta. Total of my weight was about 1.1 kg, and I had a vaginal delivery.

MY EXPERIENCE:- 

When I went to my doctor for the checkup, then he guided me through the complete weight gain journey. He said how much weight gain is accepted during pregnancy entirely depends upon our BMI. BMI stands for Body Mass Index. A high BMI means the body has a high amount of fat. Similarly, low BMI means the body has low amounts of fat. BMI has to be between 18.5 to 24.9. If your BMI is between these ranges, that means you have the right amount of fat in your body. BMI over 25 means overweight, and BMI over 30 means obese.

BMI can be calculated as weight (kg) / [height (m)]²

When I checked my BMI, it was 25. It was on a higher side so my doctor told me that the maximum weight I can gain is 7kg. If the weight increases beyond that, then I may have complications in pregnancy. I asked him “ What do you mean by complications?”. He pointed out the following things:-

• May have to go for C-Section as for vaginal Delivery one needs stamina and energy to bear the pain. During delivery while pushing, the mother should not get tired. Secondly, the excess weight of the mother leads to a large baby. As a result, forcep delivery or vacuum delivery.
• Also, in the C-section mother cannot immediately feed the baby. After 2-3 days, you can feed the baby. Moreover, the recovery time of the mother is more in C-SEction.
• May induce Gestational diabetes, high BP to mother.
• There are chances of premature delivery.
• During pregnancy, the mother has a backache, headache, pelvic pain, heartburns etc. which increases due to excess weight.

After learning these complications, I decided to maintain my weight so that I have a vaginal delivery without any complications. GUESS WHAT?? I CAUSED IT!!! I had a vaginal delivery, and my baby was absolutely fine. Moreover, my baby came out in just 1 PUSH!!!! My doctor told me "After so many years I have seen such quick delivery". He was very happy with how I have managed my pregnancy. I did not have High BP and Gestational Diabetes as well. My pregnancy was very healthy. 

Above all, I became present to a lot of myths related to weight during pregnancy. Some of the myths which I came to know during my pregnancy are:-

• Since there is a baby inside me, therefore I must eat for two even if I do not feel like to eat
• I must put on around 10-13 kg of weight and should look healthy
• If my weight is not gaining consistently, then it is not a good sign

 Here are some of the important things you should know before having a baby.

I really got that "healthy pregnancy has nothing to do with weight gain". Do post your views or concerns if any in the comment box.

In my next blog, I will be going to share how I maintained my weight during pregnancy.

Anshima Kolatkar is a passionate content writer and heads her firm "Writingwalkthrough". She pursued engineering in Electronics and telecom and PGDMA in embedded systems. In the year 2017, she quit her job to follow her passion of being a content writer. She is now a successful mompreneur. As a mom in working, she wants to share her journey into parenthood. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

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