BMI during pregnancy - same rules?

[Newmummytobe79]

Hi all,

What is the rule with checking your BMI when pregnant? I've put on quite a lot of weight (but started off bordering normal/underweight BMI) and I'm now on the edge of overweight! Do pregnant ladies get a concession or should you stay within the normal range for your height throughout pregnancy?

Surely staying within the 'normal' range would be impossible? I mean, if you were on the edge of 'normal' and 'overweight' at the beginning you'd soon be 'over' wouldn't you?

FWIW, I've been sorting out life insurance during this pregnancy and they recorded my pre-pregnancy weight rather than my current weight.

I was also told that if you started 'under' then you should expect to put on more than if you started 'over' (presumably because you wouldn't have any reserves to use up)

Hm... this seems like rather a long, rambling reply. Sorry! I think what I'm trying to say is: don't worry!

Pregnant ladies get a concession - most of your weight will be water (in your tummy and your thighs so don't worry)

Please don't worry about having to diet during pregnancy. Your doctor will let you know if theres a problem with your weight gain - but DON'T use a normal BMI calculator - it doesn't work in pregnancy.

You can find help sheets that tell you what all the weight gain is in pregnancy - baby, placenta is a huge hunk, water, fat (mostly in your boobs remember).

If your putting it on - then your body probably needs it :)

ALso, don't pay attention to the NHS guidelines for 'normal' weight gain in pregnancy.

I started off at 50kg, and am now towards the end of my pregnancy at 75kg - that's half my origional body weight! The website said 10kg was a normal gain, so i asked my doctor if i was morbidly obese now and he said not to be so silly, and that my weight gain was perfectly healthy, considering my origional body weight.

So... let go... relax and enjoy the one time in your life when you can eat extra cake without having to feel guilty.

BMI measurement is not entirely useful in pregnancy as you are meant to gain weight and every woman will gain a different amount. Trying to eat healthily and maintain a reasonable level of fitness is more important.
Some academics dismiss BMI completely as a useful measurement as it depends on weight and some individualds, particularly those who engage in a lot of exercise will have a higher BMI purely because muscle is heavier than fat (but it doesn't make them fat). One paper demonstrated that according to BMI measurements Usain Bolt would be severely overweight. More useful guides are - your mirror, your clothes, a dose of honesty and when not pregnant hip to waist ratio.

I am confused now as I've seen on MN ladies complaining about their MWs giving them hard time because their BMI during pregnancy crossed that overweight/obese mark. I remember some of them saying that women with BMI over 30 would not be eligible for water birth. So I thought that HC professionals do use BMI measure during pregnancy, which does not make any sense to me as even if you start with a normal weight and your pregnancy weight gain is within normal range, you can easily end up with an overweight and even obese BMI.

My hospital used some super-duper BMI calculating machine on me the other day - it worked out ratio of fat to muscle apparently - then told me that it didn't really apply to pregnant women. Bizarre. The machine told me I needed to lose 0.9kg to be at my ideal weight

here is a calculator which takes your pre pg BMI, and how far pg you are and gives some figures on what is normal weight gain for the gestation of pregnancy.

I watched my GP friend go into the MW and ask what exactly she was doing using normal BMI for pregnant ladies and of course someone lower down the normal weight scale is expected to gain more than someone boarderline overweight or more at the start. GP was livid. Poor girl ahead of me was in floods as she had been told off for gaining 10kg by I think 7/8 months. Medically you are not expected to blow up either but MW should not be using normal BMI in pregnancy........ I gained oh 35lbs (about 16kg) but with 6 weeks I had 10lb left to loose...

I don't think the rules are the same at all - I put on 2 kg inbetween my booking-in appt and my scan, and my BMI went up from 20.something to 22.1.
they weren't worried in the slightest.

I think they only start to worry if you're massively high (esp if you have high BP)

ooh, crawling's calculator is good - shows i'm in a normal range.