Weight?

[Juice]

I heard a while ago that being overweight can raise the risk of miscarriage, which scared me a little bit seeing as I am pretty overweight (although I did manage to lose 2 stone before I got pregnant). Also, I saw the midwife by accident at 5 weeks because the silly doctor's receptionist booked me in too early and as this is my first, I didn't know. Anyway, the midwife said something about dual care... or something like that. Something to do with me having more care during my pregnancy because of my weight. I'm a little worried about it to be honest. Does anyone know what it is or what it entails??

 

[coco_cukoo]

Hiya, congrats on the pregnancy. Well my BMI was 32 at 12 weeks so they put me under shared care so you are looked after by a consultant too & will have appointments with them to check on your process. If you're BMI is high you will have to have a glucose tolerance test around 28 weeks. I'm not sure how overweight someone has to be to be at a higher risk of mc though. Even though I'm classed as obese (never looked it, I'm sure it's my muscles lol) I haven't been regularly weighed or anything :/ so unsure what the consultant will actually do...but MW wants a pre delivery weight from me at 36 weeks which I'm soooo nervous about! Do not want to know how much I have put on!!!! Xx

 

[Dustbunny]

Congrats on your pregnancy

Try not to worry too much hun. I had a bmi of 41 at the start of my pregnancy and I had 'dual' care. Basically I had two consultants appointments and they did exactly the same as what a midwife would; urine, blood pressure etc.

You'll have a GTT (glucose tolerance test at 28 weeks) nothing painful, you have some bloods taken, drink lucozade and then wait around 2 hours to have more blood taken. This is done because a high bmi means you are more likely to have gestational diabetes. The consultant will probably also talk about epidurals with you because it can be harder to get the epidural in if overweight. They had no problem getting one in me (other than me struggling to sit still because of the pain lol)

As the consultant and midwife said to me, you're higher risk if you're overweight, you're higher risk if you're underweight, you're higher risk if you're older and you're higher risk if you're younger you just can't win

Oh and I've never heard of the increased risk of miscarriage when overweight if that helps any

BTW I had an extremely easy pregnancy other than SPD (which is a killer) and a very easy labour so being overweight won't necessarily be a problem for you at all.

If you're still worried or want a chat to put your mind at ease shoot me a PM, I panicked at first too so completely understand what you mean.

 

[Juice]

Thank you ladies, you have helped to put my mind at rest.
A lot of the stuff they tell you seems to be a bit frightening and in my opinion, a big fuss about nothing!
Of course there are risks, but they make out like it's highly likely that something will go wrong. Not very nice if you ask me! Women were having babies thousands of years before we knew anything about medicine!

 

[Lou12]

I've got a high BMI too and I was told I'd see a consultant - but haven't seen one to do with my weight. I did have a Glucose Tolerance Test because of it and I came back as having Impaired Glucose Tolerance - I've seen the consultant for that, and will be seeing him again - but nothing else.

xx

 

[Lolly85x]

Congratulations and well done losing 2stone! That's fab.
I also have a high bmi, but was never told about dual care, or had the gtt test. I think it depends on area and how high your bmi is.
I wouldn't worry about it as lots of people have consultant led care due to may different issues.
You may be told certain things you can't do in labour, and I have heard that they say it's harder to administer and epidural... But every person is different.
And iv never heard about being over weight making it a higher risk of mc.
I know a lot of doctors will say its harder to conceive if over weight. But I wouldn't worry.
See your consultant and see what they say... There's also a thread in here about bmi, have a read at that
Good luck with baby xxxx

 

[Sunshine_1]

I have been told about the higher risk of miscarriage if your overweight, but try not to worry about it, there is a higher risk with so many things, and if you add all these up, you'd go nuts with worry. I have a very high BMI, it was higher when I had my daughter 14 years ago though, so I try not to let it bother me too much.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

 

[BevG]

my bmi was 39 at the start of preg and 41 by the end of it, i weighed 21 stone a couple of months after giving birth. my preg was pretty easy and the birth was natural and fairly easy too. i wasnt even under dual care. a bmi of over 35 here means i couldnt use the birthing pool or the midwife led unit and it can make it harder to get an epidural in so they advise you to ask for one early into labour rather than later. due to my weight i had to be monitored on a bed during established labour which was horrid and painful as my lo was back to back and it hurt my back lying on the bed. i had 2 gtt tests which were negative so all fine. i should have had a growth scan at 37 weeks tho as my baby was 10lb 14oz and larger ladies can have large babies so when i measured over by a lot they should have scanned me but they didnt. good job i managed to push her out anyway lol

 

[Juice]

Why can't you use the birthing pool if you're over weight?

 

[Lolly85x]

The risk of complications I think, and if they needed to get you out in an emergency
Makes me really wonder, my weight and BMI has never been commented on, although at my 12 week appt wasnt above 35, but now iv put on pregnancy weight it is...x

 

[BevG]

they go b your booking in bmi not what it is during preg and yeah the have to monitor during labour if your quite overweight so no mlu and no pool incase u fall or they have to get u out

 

[Lolly85x]

Hmh... Well I would think I would be ok. As it has never been mentioned... I hate the whole bmi thing!!!xxx

 

[nhh04]

Just wanted to say that they have changed the advice on weight loss during pregnancy. It used to be advised that women only manage their weight gain during pregnancy (that is not put on too much) whereas now the advice is that you can lose weight if you do so carefully. I think slimming world is recommended for pregnant women, but of course you'll probably want to check with your Dr. I had a BMI of 32 when I got my BFP and have since lost over 1st to get my BMI down to 29-ish. This was healthy eating and counting calories through sainsburys diets but it won't let you sign up if you are pregnant, nudge nudge wink wink!! I signed up because its all online and I failed miserably last time I tried to diet through attending meetings and totting up points.

 

[BevG]

yeah slimming world is completely safe while preg. i go there now lol

 

[Pudds86]

my bmi was 39 last time round and i had consultant care. however don't be put off. my care was brilliant, got extra scans too. i had a completely low risk pregnancy and labour, was not restricted to anything and was 100% allowed a water birth

Sent from my shit hot phone! Fo shizzle home girls.

 

[Kaala]

My BMI was 28-29 when I got pregnant and they already said I was way too heavy and it was a miracle that I got pregnant, so I'm also really scared..I just wish you the best of luck and I bet it will be fine

 

[Juice]

I don't know why they told you that because it's a load of rubbish! A bmi of 28-29 is overweight but it is NOT a miracle to get pregnant being that heavy! My BMI was 42 when I conceived and I've known people a lot heavier than me who have got pregnant and had healthy babies.

It's true that it's harder to get pregnant if you're overweight but when you consider that 60% of adults in the UK are obese and that the population is doubling every generation, you have to think that it really can't be that hard can it!?

 

[Kaala]

Yeah, my mum was really obese when she got my little brother..Like 45? And he's kinda healthy
And really, 60%? Wauw..I didn't know that