Risk from bigger mums

AdelaideNow... Risk from bigger mums: "University of Adelaide professor of obstetrics and gynaecology Jeffrey Robinson said theatre beds at the WCH were being stretched to the limits with some women.

As part of its rolling upgrade program, the hospital has bought six new beds which are capable of holding up to 260kg."

I have to confess that reading this article made me chortle and I couldn't help it. It's the visual images which come to mind. It is indeed a weighty problem and one not that easy to fix in the short term. If it has changed from a fifth to a third of pregnant women presenting as overweight and then it would seem they are putting pregnancy before weight, and the sands won't shift for a while without looking at the reasons. I know that I just put on weight when I got pregnant. Once I had the baby I was thin again, so I have put it down to the hormones. I just turned into a beached whale and as soon as you put on weight and you are pregnant, you are not in a good position to get the weight off because of the baby and the lack of mobility. I wasn't overweight before or after, and after I just got mobile and worked at getting my fitness back. In certain respects we have to change the images. We have to show women how to stay healthy and well while they are pregnant and, like the gym junkies, we have to make it a trendy thing to do. People are getting more savvy with their food after a lot of effort from our chefs and international chefs. We are becoming easier to persuade that good food and healthy eating can be a part of our busy lives. So it's marketing, marketing ,marketing. You have to look at the reasons and then address those in a manner which fits into our current lifestyle. If women are resisting a healthy body, there have to be some deep seated reasons because it is not logical and being overweight and pregnant is a real self esteem knocker. It turns you upside down and back to front, so I doubt the women are actually choosing this. It may well be the path of least resistance because they do not know how to manage everything which is happening to them.