High bmi and ttc?

[Sallyjo27]

Hi ladies, Im currently TTC after a MMC at 9 weeks in feb and CP in March. My BMI is quite high and I’ve lost a bit of weight and am continuing to try and do so. Is anyone else TTC with a high BMI? Or pregnant with a high BMI? I’m worried the miscarriage was because of my weight.

This is me too. What is your BMI? As long as it is below 30, HCP don't seem concerned. My BMI is around 32. BMI over 35 is consultant care.

I have had two miscarriages but I am also older. So not as simple as just weight. Also finding it impossible to lose weight. Had A GP appointment but cancelled it a week before lockdown. You would think it would be easy as having such an amazing incentive as a baby. Good luck TTC.

Hi @berrychakewellplease my bmi is around 37 although it was 40. Im finding it very hard at the moment as I’m an emotional eater and not being in work means I’m not as active. I’m very sorry for your losses. When I was pregnant the midwife/gp didn’t seem too bother about my weight, but I can’t help but feel it’s my fault... which leads to more eating because I get upset 🙄😩

@sallyjo sorry for loss too- I didn't read the op properly MMC is horrendous.

This it totally my opinion and not medial advice but Keep on trying is all I can say. Lots of women have babies with high BMI. 25% is pregnancies end in MC. For me it is a psychological too. And our lockdown menu does not help. Eating like a gourmand everyday. I am not advocating this but i may well try a VLCD. I am actually now under consultant care for Miscarriage due to my age and the length of time it has taken to conceive. I had to mention my weight. It seem HCP are reluctant to mention it.

@berrychakewellplease thank you, I’ve noticed AF is much longer now after (currently having my 1st proper AF since) That’s exactly what my DH has said, his favourite sentence is “lots of women bigger than you have had children” and while that is true I know the reality of it too. That sounds like a good idea! We’ve previously done that too. Fingers crossed for you that you get that BFP soon x

Hey all! I have a BMI of around 40 and I’m quite worried about TTC honestly! I am young and healthy but the BMI is a bit of a worry.

Good luck @Sallyjo27. I did lose about a stone and half. First AF is usually a bit odd then it should settle back to normal.

I would try and lose some @happy if you can and you are young and time is on your side. But, easier said than done. Also do not hesitate to go the GP if you can't lose weight or fail to conceive within a year. But bear mind In my area They won't refer you in if you have a BMI of 35+.

@Happygolucky71 me too, I’m 27 and have no health issues at all, I’m going to cut down this week and start exercising. @berrychakewellplease thank you very much for your help xx

My BMI was always around 33 and still is, and I had three pregnancies with no complications.

Sorry to hear you're struggling

@BreasticlesNotTesticles thank you, I don’t think it’s the getting pregnant bit that we’re struggling with as I got my BFP on the 4th month we tried, it’s the staying pregnant bit. And I’m worrying that’s because of my weight x

Hi ladies - didn't want to read and run as this is how I felt while conceiving my son (took just over a year) and I weighed less then than now! Might be nice to have a little support group here :-) I've been trying a VLCD for the last 3.5 weeks before we start trying to conceive our DC2 in the next few months. My BMI was ~33; I've managed to lose a stone so far and need to lose at least another to be below 30 BMI. Really, I want to get in a place where I can start some healthier habits as maternity leave (unstructured meals and secret eating) and then the return to a stressful job (eating breakfast and lunch out every day) meant although I gained pretty much no weight through my pregnancy, I gained 2.5st afterwards! The first week or so of the diet was really tough - food craving was pretty horrendous, particularly as I'm still trying to support with meal making for my 18mo. DS and DH (who can eat anything plus lots of snacks and put nothing on!). But the craving did get better. I've even forgotten I'm due a meal at times! The fact we are both working full-time from home with a toddler probably helps. You should try to speak to a GP before starting any VLCD though.
I can also recommend the Couch to 5K app, which you can listen to with headphones as someone tells you when to start and stop. In January, I started a couch to 5K group (which was also difficult at times, particularly on the solo runs) but the motivation of getting healthier for my son helped. I told myself I didn't have to enjoy it - because I was sick of people telling me I'd learn to love exercising - I just had to do it. I got through the first 5 weeks before I caught a bug of DS, during a week the runs were meant to ramp up in difficulty and didn't feel able to join back in. I'm planning to start from the beginning again in my own time now that I'm more settled in my diet, using the app and just doing each week's runs when I can, repeating weeks if I need to. It is going to be hard, but I would feel better about TTC if I knew I was doing what I could and trying to be more positive about myself, instead of blaming myself for it taking a long time to conceive the first time (when really I don't know what it was and won't know till we try again whether DC2 will take a while or not!).

If anyone needs some support (with diet/exercise motivation) or just a venting space, would be lovely to hear from others in the same position!

@Sallyjo27 just keep trying!

@SamanthaS89 can you tell me what vcld you are on?

Just wanted to add in here. I conceived twice with a BMI around 40. I lost one around 8 and weeks and the other is 5 months old now. My pregnancy was fairly straightforward aside from horrible PGP. No GD or any of the other horrible things I'd read about. Delivery by c-section because if grown a very health 10lb 10oz baby boy. Good luck to everyone x

Im 33 weeks pregnant and i wont lie its hard being pregnant with a high bmi mine was 43 at start and ive gained about 2 stone so now its massive but its worth everything, the midwife has been lovely and never made me feel bad about it and I've had extra scans and care to ensure baby is ok. The only hurdle I've had is gestational diabetes which anyone can get not just high bmi people yes we're more prone to it but i was borderline before conception. I wouldn't worry too much especially if losing weight up til you conceive you'll be fine. Good luck

If you have the opportunity to lose weight and get your BMI to 35 or below before getting pregnant then definitely do take it. It’s not just about pregnancy complications - you are far less likely to have delivery / post-partum complications like assisted delivery and blood clots if you lose weight. You aren’t that far off either if your BMI is 37 now!

Sorry for your losses OP. I had TTC 4yrs, no problems found and no cause for infertility. DH and I both went on a health kick, cut down caffeine, and both lost 10kg. I went from BMI of about 29- 26. 26 is still in the overweight category, but I conceived the next month and am convinced it was the extra weight preventing pregnancy beforehand. Any extra changes hormonal patterns and really puts a strain on you and a pregnancy. Plus the obvious higher changes of gestational diabetes, blood pressure etc which I'm sure you are aware of.

Well done on the weight loss so far. have you tried a keto diet? I found that was easy to follow once I knew what I could/couldn't eat, and you still eat food- unlike say a shake or juice diet.

35 is the magic number as far as the NHS are concerned. They see higher numbers of complications in pregnancy for women with a BMI 35+ . Because of this you'll find yourself traipsing to more hospital appointments as you'll have to have extra monitoring.

Some fertility clinics have a cut off of 35 for IVF for these reasons as well as chances of a successful pregnancy being better with a lower BMI.

I'd really encourage you to keep up the brilliant work with weight loss and aim to get your BMI to 34. It's better all round if you can.

@INeedNewShoes- My IVF clinic has a cut off of BMI 30, some even lower, so 35 isn't always the magic NHS cut off. True, there are more complications etc, but anything above 30 is still obese. (I know all too well as had to lose weight to get under BMI 30 to qualify).

@Elouera - the 30 BMI cut off is for NHS cycles and certain conditions and older women. 35 is the usual cut off for private treatment if you are under 45.

I would also recommend fatpostivefertility on Instagram. I find her quite positive around the topic!

@GrumpyHoonMain- Thanks for clarifying.