The 600-Pound Pregnancy
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Obese expectant moms may be making babies fat before they're even born.
To avoid having to weigh some of his overweight maternity patients on the hospital loading dock, one OB/GYN in Michigan recently replaced the standard scales in his office with new ones that accommodate more than 800 pounds.
This is just one extreme example of the growing trend of seriously overweight moms-to-be that was recently reported in The New York Times. The story highlights some disturbing stats, including the fact that one in five women who give birth in the U.S. is obese. In addition, more OB/GYNs report that they are seeing pregnant women who are morbidly obese--weighing in at as much as 600 pounds. In fact, the Michigan doctor, who already sees more than a dozen morbidly obese pregnant women per month, will direct his hospital's new center for Bariatric Obstetric Care, which caters to overweight women and opens later this summer.
Email5 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
It’s really crazy how far this obesity epidemic has gone…when I was a kid, there were probably 2-3 “fat” kids throughout school until high school…now when I go to the playground with my kids, more than 1/2 the kids are obese. We’re going to be one very sick nation if we don’t do something now.
- Billie
I think people need to be responsible for their children. You can’t eat crap and put that in their bodies as well. And for obese pregnant women, all the crap they eat goes straight to their body, condemning them to have weight struggles as well. It’s just child abuse.
- SugarPlumFairy
I think trying to do the traditional American forms of dieting while pregnant is a bad idea. I would be more likely to suggest that pregnant moms simply make a healthy change in what they eat and try to get more excercise like maybe just walking more. The results may indeed be weight loss but that should not be the goal. I think the goal should be to provide all the nutrients that the baby needs to grow in a healthy way.
- momof9
I myself suffer from Lymphadema in my legs. I was over 400 lbs. when I became preganant. My doctor told me not to gain no more than 20 lbs at the most. I watched my diet very carefully. My blood pressure was normal untill the night I had my daughter. She was born weighing 6lbs.13.5 oz. . So I disagree with what some doctors are saying that babies born to obese moms are gonna be big themselves. I also disagree when people say that most kids are fat because they “eat alot of junk” !!! When I was a kid that wasn’t the story with me. My mom watched what we ate when we had food in the house! So you can’t just say kids are fat because they ate wrong!!! Everyones story is different!!!!
- serena
I think that we should worry about making healthier choices not how much people weigh. I think that we should be just as concerned about people with annorexia and bulimia as we are with overweight people. Some people are never going to be thin even when they eat healthy and exercise. Why do people think that most super models are beautiful when most of them should gain weight be healthy. We are saying that thin is more important than healthy. We need to stop looking at people and judging them, and try to encourage them to be more healthy. Instead of looking at the overweight kids at the park and judging them and their parents encourage your kids to play with them. They are obviously trying to get exercise or they would not be at the park. We need to teach our children to help not judge, and we should do the same.
- Jami
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