Obesity has always been known to be detrimental to health. A little excess in normal weight may already cause illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, and cardiovascular diseases. This is all the more the case if the person obese is actually pregnant.
It puts both the mother and the child at risk for complications. Thus, before it is too late, you may want to take some precautionary measures to avoid such threat to your health and life.
A person is considered obese if his weight is 30{2dd333ed9c7b2074fdfda098a56357c21ab487243e335d9241a31e34dbd5cf30} more than the ideal body weight. This is measured by a scale called Body Mass Index which compares body height and weight against a number from 18 to 40. The ideal range is from 18.5 to 25. You may already be a little overweight for your height if you fall under the 25 to 29.9 range. Moreover, if you fall beyond 30, you are positive for obesity. Several factors may bring about this state such as idleness, lack of activity, poor diet, and bad eating habits.
Through the years, the number of obese people has significantly increased. This is true for both men and women. Greater concern has been set forth, though, for women belonging to the childbearing age because of its adverse effects to the reproductive health. It puts both the mother and baby at risk as well as negatively affects fertility. This is so because the greater the amount of stored fat, the higher its inhibiting effect on the level of sex hormones produced by the body.
The likelihood, then, of becoming pregnant decreases. If and when you do happen to become pregnant while being obese, there are a lot of possible complications that may arise. One of them is preeclampsia which causes high blood pressure, retention of fluid, and, in effect, swelling. This condition may decrease the blood flow to the placenta thereby posing serious danger to the baby. Another is gestational diabetes which is a specific type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. This prevents the body from breaking down sugar. In effect, the baby in the uterus may gain so much weight putting it in clear danger. The health of the baby inside the womb may not be properly monitored and detected as well because ultrasounds of obese mothers are usually not very accurate as layers of fat get in the way. Moreover, delivery of the baby may get unusually prolonged which eventually may require caesarean section.
After birth, obese women are also more prone to developing infections making recovery a lot slower and more difficult. Furthermore, babies of obese mothers are also more likely to develop obesity by age four. Being aware of these dangers should significantly encourage you to do something. If you have any plans of getting pregnant, you have to be vigilant in losing weight and be more observant of your health. You might want to reevaluate your diet, eating habits, as well as physical activities. If you happen to be extremely obese already, you may want to consider surgery.
Remember, though, that you should not try to lose weight when you are already pregnant as this may deprive your baby of the necessary calories and nutrients. Instead, you can control your weight gain, make it more gradual, and delay it a little until the third trimester. Exercise is something you can continuously do during pregnancy but make sure you have consulted with your doctor regarding the activities involved. A simple regular walk around the block will not hurt though.
It is also important that women keep themselves informed about obesity. Not all people are armed with the appropriate information, making them at a loss when they do experience the problem and, worse, when it is too late already. It remains true that prevention is still better than cure. There are several communities right now that you can join that address these types of issues and problems. Personally, you should also be more watchful when it comes to your health. It is true that life nowadays is hectic but health should always remain on top of your priorities. Remember that no one else is responsible for your welfare except you so take good care of yourself.
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