I weigh about 12st10lbs and am 5ft5 so I have a few stone to lose to get to my recommended weight. Although I have never been very slim I have put most of the weight on over the last couple of years (have had a very stressful time at work which led to comfort eating). I am now eating more sensibly and trying to be more active (I am fairly fit anyway, lots of walking and have played hockey for years) and I am starting to slowly lose weight (0.5 - 1lb a week). The thing is I want to ttc early next year and I have a couple of questions

1. Do you think I should wait to ttc until I am closer to my 'healthy' weight. I don't think so but my new GP is very disapproving and keeps going on about the many risks associated with being overweight and pregnant. I would rather lose the weight slowly by making small changes I can live with long term but that will takes months (or years!).

2. I don't want to go back to overeating if I am pregnant but I don't think that it is a good idea to diet during pregnancy either. How do I know if I am eating a healthy diet? I eat a good range of foods with lots of fruit and veg and have cut down on the amount of rubbish I snack on but I know I eat massive portions and need to eat less. For example I think I am eating healthily now and don't go hungry and I am losing a little weight. If I eat like this in early pregnancy and lose weight (not deliberately but just because I have cut out the rubbish) am I risking the baby not getting enough nutrients?

Any advice would be really welcome. I don't want to put off ttc but my GP has made me feel as though I am being really irresponsible and would be putting my baby at risk.

Thanks

PS I am going to change GP regardless. Whether he is right or not his attitude was awful. I hate moving towns and having to change doctors!

I can't answer most of your questions, but I can say that I've (recently) been told by an obstetrician with an interest in the health of overweight mothers that the risks are only really raised once you get to a BMI of 35+ - so calculate your BMI and see what it is. Above that he sees more problems in pregnancies and deliverys. Which is not to say you would have problems, of course.

And pregnancy totally mucks up appetite, the ability to eat sensibly and any kind of understanding of what your weight should be doing for lots of women, so better to get to where you want to be before getting pg, as change in pregnancy is really wierd and hard to understand. In my personal experience. And having just eaten a cream donut that I didn't want, but apparently my unborn baby was craving...

You are not ridiculously overweight and it sounds like you have a sensible attitude to your food intake - just continue to look after yourself and if you want to ttc go for it. Good luck.

I'm bigger than you but the advice I have been given more than once is that age a bigger factor than weight in both safety and fertility so start ttc now while losing weight as still better to get pregnant earlier while overweight as later when thinner.

Also I had acupuncture recently and the acupuncturist said that for some women being overweight affects fertility because it prevents or limits ovulation but if that has not happened then you should be fine to get pregnant and to stay pregnant and that in the US for example they never refuse fertility treatment for weight unlike in UK.

Good luck. Would be interested to hear from other people in same situation.

Thanks CK - I think my BMI is 29.5 so too high but def not as high as 35.

Your GP sounds a bit overanxious. You are not dramatically overweight, I'm roughly the same height as you and think at about 11st you would be at the top range of BMI.

I wouldn't put off TTC but I would certainly do what you are doing which is start some exercise and start losing weight in a healthy non obsessive way. I'm sure also that I read somewhere that being in the top range of BMI weight wise means that you are more likely to get pregnant whereas if you are thinner then may struggle.

Thanks Schneebly and yellowflowers, my instinct says that I am probably healthier than someone who weighs less but is very inactive and I should go for it but GP just managed to worry me and make me feel as though I was being stupid. Felt like I was back at school being told off by headmaster!

Hi there - may I just add my 2p worth? My BMI is 50+ so waaaaay at the wrong end of the scale. My GP said to me that the hardest part was atualy getting pregnant - but we achieved that no problem. Unfortunately we did miscarry - but she put it down to my age (35+), my stressful job and 'one of those things'. Obviously I know that my weight must have been a factor somewhere (and I am taking steps to sort it)- but my GP was great - never once told me not to go for it, and I was never made to feel ashamed or embarrassed (I did enough of that for me.) You sound like you are doing everything sensibly - so TTC away! Good luck.

Hi gingercoo - not obviously to do with your weight. I mean miscarriages happen to slim perfect weight women too. Sorry for your loss though.

Thank you yellowflowers... xx It's a concern though, and I know it - I guess because I don't drink, smoke, do anything daft other than eat shitloads I guess it's easy for others to question whether the excess 12 stones I'm carrying could actually be a factor?
But my point to the OP is don't let your GP or other medical professionals make you feel like a 'naughty schoolkid' or feel bad for being curvaceous, or let opinions like that stop you from going for your dreams. Life is just way too short for that kind of negativity...xxx

Thanks for all the responses so far.

gingercoo I am so sorry about your miscarriage but there really is no reason to think your weight had anything to do with it. Good luck with the weight loss, let me know how you get on.

gingercoo - I can't find it now, but I have definitely read some research that showed that being overweight was in no way a factor that influenced pregnancy outcomes as far as miscarriage was concerned.

(Am also very overweight and have had 2 recent miscarriages, so took notice of the info at the time).

Though just to add more, I think the thing is sometimes the causes of overweightedness (real word?) can also be the causes of some miscarriages - so if overweight from thyroid that can be a problem, or from pcos which can have some effect etc.

Thanks guys & sorry for the hijack cantwait! It's just all really useful info - love mumsnet!

Yes i have a BMI of about 29 and talked to my doctor about maybe losing weight before TTC and she just looked at me and said it wouldn't be a problem. Sounds like your doctor is not the right one for you.

I also exercise often and I think am pretty healthy - naturally carry more muscle than some (but also like eating and drinking and socialising!). I just think you should go for it.

I'm just worried about putting on a lot of weight while preggers. How does one keep that in check and keep healthy for yourself and baby?

Apparently fat people often put on less while pregnant than smaller people. Perhaps because that is when we are conscious of eating healthily so we actually end up eating less than usual where other people end up eating more than usual.

Well I hope that is true.

I think eating the right sort of food is the answer. Water dense nutrient rich food. And lots of water. That's my aim.

I was overweight when I conceived DC2, my GP told me that I could do with losing some weight but it was not nessecery(sp) and my BMI is 29.

37 weeks later and I haven't put on anywhere near as much weight as I did with DS as I have been much more strict about it.

How were you strict Kayzis?

I just made sure I didn't give in to chocolate and junk food cravings very often. I ate far too much junk food with DS and put on 4 stone. So this time if I was craving some chocolate I had an apple or something healthy.

When I was weighed by the midwife at my booking in, my BMI was 33. I HAD put on half a stone through early PG bloating and do carry a lot of muscle because I have been losing weight steadily over a couple of years and was doing 6 - 8 gym classes per week. MW wasn't worried but said I'd have to go under a consultant if my BMI got up to 35.

My GP was a little shite though - was very critical till I made him look up my weight history and see how much I've lost (3 stone)

My goal was to eat loads and loads of fruit and be mega healthy, maintain an exercise regime and show everyone at the 16 week mw appt that I was not fat and, despite their obvious opinions of fat pregnant women, some of us CAN restrain ourselves and genuinely do have an issue losing weight.

Unfortunately I never got to the 16 week appt as I m/c'ed a week ago at 11+4.

However, now I've stopped bleeding, my waist is still thicker than it was but my weight is 2 pounds less than it was 12 weeks ago, so it IS possible. I was lucky (or maybe it was a sign and I was unlucky) - I had mild nausea, but no sickness so could continue eating anything I wanted within reason.

You are NOT overweight and have nothing to worry about.

(ps - am now eating chocolate as if it is going out of fashion, but have decided I'm allowed to wallow in a pit of sugar for a while)

Thanks for all the responses - I think I will just ignore the obnoxious doctor and continue to eat sensibly and exercise but not put off ttc . It's so stupid that doctors can make you doubt yourself even when you know deep down they are just being *****s.

Deeja - I'm glad you have a lovely sensible GP and I hope I can find one like her.

Kayz - thanks for the info, it makes me feel much more confident. Hope you are feeling well and no more stomach pains.

Jools - that's awful, I'm so sorry . Take care of yourself and enjoy the chocolate.

cantwaitforxmas- i'm overweight, have been in this pragnancy and my last... my BMI is at 32... do more than your's... i think i've lost about a stone while pregnant through sickness.... but i was about 13stone before falling pregnant, but ate healthily, and got plenty of exercise walking to nursery and back twice a day (40min round trip x2) and thats saying i did nothing else all day....

My midwife said as long as my BMI doesn't increase while pregnant, and i get a healthy diet and some exercise i should be fine like i was last time!!

HI I am TTC my BMI is 30. but I am healthy I dont smoke and I was bigger when I concieved my DD (1 year) I lost 2 stone in the last few months, I am comfortable, but not going to put off having a baby when I feel ready, I will try not to gain to much and eat sensibly. good luck, your gp is an arse!!

I am going to go against the consensus and say perhaps losing more weight first would be a good idea. Depends on your age too.

I assume you asked your GP about your weight and ttc?

Latest studies link BMI of over 25 and an increased risk of mc Overweight women at greater risk of miscarriage

But figures also needed for studies linking age to miscarriage to know whether each month risk improves more than it lessens as she loses weight.

cantwait, I think your BMI might be slightly more than 29 (mine was 29, something in first pregnancy and was nearly 31 this time round, from weight at 9 weeks), but I wouldn't accept the assumption that it's a problem, if you feel ready to ttc you can always start trying and continue your healthy eating/exercise efforts at the same time and see what happens.

First, over 30 is counted as obese on the BMI charts, but it's a pretty crude measurement - it also depends on where you carry most of your weight - it's better for it to be on hips and thighs/all over then all concentrated around your abdomen/waist. I conceived first time trying this time and haven't actually had real complications at this point - 30 weeks - in my 2nd pregnancy in spite of age and size. They made me take a glucose tolerance test but that was arranged on grounds of my weight alone and there wasn't a problem found.

I'm glad to hear you're going to move GP, his attitude does sound awful.

Well that link is a massive kick in the face At 39, I don't have time to hang around much longer trying to lose wait, so I'll just have to hope that my miscarriage last week was not down to a BMI of 32 and move swiftly on.

BMI isn't the whole story.

Yes I am overweight and, despite trying HARD for 3 years to shift it, I've still got a way to go.

HOWEVER, I lost loads and loads of weight when sick with gastroenteritis for a month earlier this year. I was in bed for 4 weeks, lost a stone and my BMI obviously went down. During recovery, I was still eating extremely healthy food and small portions but went back to the gym - stuck ALL that weight back on but the weight was muscle, not fat. They should look at percentage of fat v muscle in the body aswell. You can be fit and muscular but considered obese.

I have to point out that the study was, according to the article, of women who had attended fertility counselling, ie whatever the issue was, these women already had problems which had led them to seek help.

I meant increase not improve in my last post obviously.

I didn't say BMI was the whole story but what do you expect the GP to say?

Thanks again for all the responses and support. In answer to the few questions I am 29, don't smoke and only have the odd glass of wine. I also started a new job about a year ago which is much less stressful than my old place so feel much more relaxed and healthier than I have in years.

I guess being a bit overweight isn't ideal (and it's definitely not all muscle!) but then things are probably never ideal. I'll definitely stick to the healthy eating and have started going to the gym but won't put off ttc.