to wonder why some expectant mums gain around 80 pounds?

[eliza456]

This isn't meant to cause offence. But if a baby weighs 7-10 pounds (full term) then why do some women gain over 80 pounds in total?

i understand there are fluids etc that contribute, but, 70 pounds worth??

purely curious to see if anyone has any insight into this

There has got to be an evolutionary perspective when it comes to weight gain.
For example I’m sure It’s true that humans gravitate towards high sugar/fat foods, because we have evolved to survive in a world where food may be scarce. So we grab what we can, scoff it and store anything we don’t need for the next famine. Sounds great but doesn’t factor in for the fact we live in a society where sugary and fatty (delicious) foods are everywhere. But we still want them. Because our primal brains are screaming out for the calories.

So it would make perfect sense that a woman who is pregnant would be even more so inclined to do this. After all she isn’t just storing at for her it’s for her infant. The primal brain doesn’t know there wont be a famine once the baby is born and has no clue about the existence of formula milk.
Therefore it makes sense that the more fat the women can store the better, then she and the baby will be ok in times of hardship.

I think some women may have this primal drive more than others. Some people give in to cravings more easily. Some women are too poor to buy healthy food. Some women aren’t educated enough to make healthy choices. Some women’s hormones will make them gain more weight than others. Some have awful sickness that can lead to more weight gain or less weight gain. Some can’t excercise through pregnancy. So while I think we are all prone to weight gain in pregnancy, these factors may account for why some women gain 2 stone and others gain five.

So please op try and sound a little less judgemental. It’s not very nice to criticise women at their most vulnerable.

I gained 4 stone each time. Constant nausea and had to constantly eat crisps, which I also found awful but better than anything else. Normally I enjoy my food and eat healthily, I had no desire to eat for 2! Also just exhausted breathless and back pain so stopped exercising. No problems losing weight after pregnancy so I’m not going to worry about it.

I gained two stone during pregnancy and by two weeks pp had lost 2 1/2 stone, but unfortunately I'd gained 2 stone prior to getting pregnant thinking "I'll be pregnant soon so can eat what I want..."
Don't make my mistake

I’m not sure exactly how much I gained each time as I was only weighed at booking in.

In my second pregnancy I gained a lot of weight because I was sick for 9 months and eating seemed to ease the sickness. I didn’t gain as much in my other two pregnancies.

Because they get hungrier or have other health issues.

I mean I know I had uncontrolled hunger and constantly craved crisps.

I put on 2 dress sizes.

SIL had an eating disorder. She leveled out around 300 lbs until she had gastro band fitted. She was only skinny at start because she was a drug addict (crystal meth). She was probably addict b/c of a shitty childhood. She's mostly organised her life since.

So as you can see @eliza456 - lots and lots of people have 'insight' into why many women pack on the pounds during pregnancy.

Are you satisfied with the responses? Does it explain it for you? I mean, it doesn't take much imagination to figure it out, does it?

Another goady fat-shaming thread under the pretext of curiosity or confusion.

I gained 4 stone because I replaced alcohol with double sausage mcmuffins.

Most of the time its due to simply over eating. With DC2 I have no idea how much I gained but I was huge. I simply ate my way through heartburn, simple as that. I had never been that fat in my life. Worked hard to shift the lot over 8 months. With my first I was younger, fitter and I fitted into my denims again within 3 weeks. Definitely had to be careful with number 3 and 4!

The only thing that would get rid of the nauseous taste in my mouth was peppermint, especially Fry's Peppermint Cream. Didn't gain 80lb though.

I reckon age massively affects it too. I was 20 with my first and I’m 24 now, and most women my age who have had kids tend to not gain as much and lose it quicker than women in their 40s. I have no idea if that’s true but anecdotally I’ve noticed it.

I gained 90 each time, and lost it afterwards and it is none of your sodding business

Does it matter? Everyone's different.

It really annoys me when people say "because people are stupid and think you should eat for two". I don't think anyone seriously thinks that these days, but I can totally see why many women, myself included, put on "excess" weight during pregnancy. You're tired, aching, nauseous, missing alcohol (maybe just me lol), suffering bad sleep, anxious, nervous, hormonal etc etc - many of the reasons that many people typically turn to food/ fail to exercise. People assuming you're just piling on the pounds because you think you can is quite frankly offensive. That said, I do think it's perfectly acceptable to indulge as it's a time in your life when you're actually not supposed to 'diet', so why not enjoy it?...

As for previous posters making unhelpful comments like "I put on no weight and was back in my jeans 2 weeks post birth" good for you but don't judge others because they didn't have the same experience. Of course everyone has a responsibility to eat as healthily as they can during pregnancy to ensure they are getting the right nutrients for their baby and should avoid getting obese to avoid complications. But shaming women for putting on a bit more than what is advised is so unhelpful and offensive. Most women are well aware of what they should or shouldn't be gaining but have so much to stress about when pregnant as it is that putting that extra pressure on to keep slim can be just a step too far IMO

Because they have heartburn so bad they actually puke if they bend over and the only cure is cake.
Obvious!

3.5 stone, was on steroids for 44 weeks

I've had four pregnancies, I gained about 2 stone with the first and lost it slowly. Then I had another three pregnancies within 4 years without giving myself time to lose the weight in between. So since having children I've gained about 4 stone. It's not easy to lose, I think the lack of socialising and sometimes the stress causes me to comfort eat.

I would say, and it’s based on emprical research of myself, that the cause can be identified to the consumption of eleventy billion Pret chocolate croissants.

I put on at least 7 stone 😬 was 10 stone pre pregnancy and I weighed myself at 7 months and I weighed 17 stone. I stopped weighing myself after that but I daresay I prob put on another stone or two by 6 months. Normal single birth. I was just hungry all the time and ate when i felt like it. Took best part of 3 years to lose the weight again.

Midwife here. 80lb is 5.5 stone in British money. That's not normal and I have seen very few gain this much. Some women get extreme hunger when pregnant and if their eating habits are poor, that can lead to excess gain. Worse if inactive.
1.5 to 2.5 stone is typical. I gained 3 stone but had a big baby and placenta. I'd lost it all by 10 weeks.

I gained 70lbs through dramatically doing less in pregnancy (physical job and horse-riding curtailed though sciatica) and lost 54 of them in a 7 day hospital stay (baby accounted for 10).

Not that difficult to understand is it?

I suddenly started piling on the pounds at the end of my last pregnancy (I can't remember exactly how much as I wasn't in a good way at all but it was a lot) because of high blood pressure, which made me massively swollen with fluid retention. I had to go into hospital early.

Not that long after giving birth I was half a stone under what my pre pregnancy weight was. I had bad morning sickness and then been quite careful about what I ate as was overweight to start with.

So I wouldn't dismiss a high pregnancy weight gain as being "fluids etc that contribute". Contribute to what, exactly? All the pies you think pregnant women eat?

I gained 14 lbs with my first DD and almost double that with my second. I had HG and it was hell! I just couldn't face any food or drink but would rather have felt less ill and gained more weight if I'm honest.

I gained 50 but was still tiny! I’m not sure how but had to have 2 emergency scans for each as bumps were measuring small. I only went up a size or 2 in clothes and completely lost it all 2 weeks pp so I can completely understand how some can gain more than that.