Mums urged to take leaf out of celebs’ diet books

Irish mums have been urged take a leaf out of celebrity mums’ diet books and get exercising quickly as a study reveals they are piling on the pounds with each pregnancy.

Two out of three Irish mothers have gained an average of 10lbs in ‘baby weight’ by the time they become pregnant with their second child, according to research.

The three-year study by the UCD Centre for Human Reproduction of more than 1,200 Irish mothers, found that 64% of first-time mums had gained an average of 10lbs within an average 18 months of the delivery of their first child.

The study also found that one in 20 first-time mothers had become obese by the time they became pregnant again. while one third lost weight and just 2% maintained their pre-pregnancy weight.

The observational study — published in this month’s American Journal of Perinatology — was carried out in the Coombe Hospital over a three-year period from 2009 to 2012.

Professor Michael Turner, who co-authored the research, said mums need to follow the example of celebrity mums and get exercising soon after birth to shift the excess weight.

The Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital said he was concerned by the 5% of women who became obese after their first pregnancy.

“These are women putting themselves at risk of getting gestational diabetes the next time around and at greater risk of having a Caesarean section the next time around.”

While celebrities have often been criticised for putting pressure on new mothers by returning to their pre-pregnancy shape in weeks, Professor Turner said women could follow the example of famous mums by getting into an exercise regime soon after the birth.

He said: “My own view is it is a combination of two factors.

“I think when a woman is looking after her child in the first year afterwards she is not active as she would have been at work and in terms of leisure activities.

“The goal women should have is as soon as they get home after having their first baby, they need to start paying attention to their diet and physical activity. Get moving quickly.

“The second one is eating for two. Eat well for one.”

He said the old adage of eating for two is “complete nonsense”.

“The mothers should eat a healthy diet with lots of nutrients but she doesn’t need to be taking on extra calories in general. By and large it is about the nutrients. It’s not about the calories.”

He said it was the first longitudinal study, where researchers take the same group of women and follow them from one pregnancy to the other. “What’s interesting about this is two-thirds of the women put on weight and the other third don’t. They lost it or stayed the same. “What are the two-thirds doing differently than the one-third?”

He said women who retained weight from the first pregnancy are likely to continue the pattern in future pregnancies.

“Some of these women will put on more weight again with their third and fourth babies. What’s concerning me is the number of women who are morbidly obese is increasing.”

The study, Interpregnancy Changes in Maternal Weight and Body Mass, weighed first-time mothers at the start of their pregnancy when they booked into hospital and again when they returned to book in for ante-natal care for their second pregnancy.

It showed that one fifth of the mums had moved into a high Body Mass Index category by their second pregnancy while 1.2% were no longer obese.