high BMI and now really stressed after seeing consultant...

[ahappymummy]

Im 16+3 and i was referred to a consultant as i have a very high BMI.
I saw her today and she pointed out that i am at a high risk of diabetes,high blood pressure,anaesthetic risks,epidural risks and at risk of DVP of the legs or lungs!
I am only 32,otherwise healthy,and have 1 other child of 3.
She then ntook my blood pressure which was,of course,high!
Now a happy pregnancy has turned out into a stressful one,im scared to be honest.
Anyone with experience of this or can reassure me? please?!

she's right though. I'm sorry, it must have been hard to hear. I suppose she's just trying to prepare you in can you need a lot of intervention.

agree with wolfram tbh. your consultant is only being honest with you.
at least now you know the risks you can make sure you're fully informed about the whole thing.

i know,and i am grateful that they will be keeping a close eye on me,but it all sounds so bloody scary!

hey it is scary. it's scary sometimes even without the added implications of high BMI or anything else.

but try not to let it get to you. It's good that you're seeing a consultant, it's good that you're getting the best possible care. and remember these are just risks, not definites.

I am sure you can find out more online, but if not then make sure to ask your midwife or consultant next time ytou see them what the ACTUAL risks are.
i mean, how much more likely are you to suffer from diabetes for example? sometimes you'll find that being "high" risk just means that you're at the top end of what is actually still quite a small risk.
does that make sense??

what is your BMI? i know that past a certain point, which i think is 35, your risks do increase,

what you need to remember is this

high risk does not mean that all of those awful things will happen, it means it is more liekly, but it is not a given

and you do need to be kept a closer eye on

howeverm you can make an informed decision to decline all additional care/management based soleyl on your BMI

how was your last pregnancy and birth?

I'm in the same boat, it is scary isn't it? Please bear in mind that even though your risks are increased, it is by no means a given that you will have problems. For instance, I'm not surprised that your blood pressure was/is high after getting so stressed.

FWIW, my experience and that of other overweight mums I know is that our pregnancies have been no more or less straightforward than anyone else's. I am having a rough pregnancy this time round but the issues aren't related to my weight.

You have had a previous healthy pregnancy (as have I) which I think counts for a lot.

Your bound to feel stressed right now as you've only been given all this info today, but trust me, after a while you will chill out and start to enjoy your pregnancy again.

The consultant is duty bound to give you the risks and you have to bear them in mind but please try not to worry. Keep yourself as healthy as you can, eat properly and take gentle exercise and give yourself the best chance you can of staying healthy right through the pregnancy.

Good luck

my bmi is 40,and i you are right in the sense that these things could happen and wont definantly happen.
lulu,my last pregnancy was a walk in the park and my birth was horrible!
Since then,i have gained 4 stone.no excuse but,i have had many stressful things since then and wrong as it may be i used food as my comfort.

Thanks so much tiger feet,that has really reassured me.
If you dont mind me asking,how high is your BMI?

try to use the coming months as a reason to eat a balanced diet and do some gentle excercise. if you are wanting to lose weight, i am sure your midwife can advise and i beleive some diet clubs are suitable for pregnant women

I am wanting to lose weight desperately!
I have just been speaking to my dh about it and he knows im totally freaked out by this,so we have agreed to go on a sensible eating plan and include a long walk every day.Its a start...i just hope all will be fine with me and my little bump!

that sounds like a good idea ahappymum. sometimes you need something like this just to kickstart you into it don't you?
i'm glad your partner is being supportive too and joining you cos that will definitely help

Tbh its given me a real shock,and made me a little emotional tonight.
Dont know if that could also be all the hormones going haywire though!
My partner is a real diamond,hes supported me through some awful times,am lucky to be so happy with him.
So as of tomorrow the healthy plan starts,here goes...wish me luck ladies!

Very very best of luck to you

I gave birth 6 weeks ago and had gestational diabetes. I was just a shade over the overweight category so classed as obese so was referred to the consultant, who said much the same as yours.

During my pregnancy I did the Davina pre-natal workout, took lots of walks and ate healthily. I did develop GD but 6 weeks after the birth I weigh a stone less than I did at my booking-in appointment and wearing a pair of jeans I last wore on my honeymoon 5 years ago. I didn't diet, just followed a diet designed for diabetics. I feel so much better for it too!

I've carried on exercising and eating healthily and I am hopeful that I will now continue until I am a healthy wait. Good luck with your pregnancy.

One of my friends was very heavy and had a lot of negative things said to her during pregnancy..she was fine
another with a normal bmi had a dreadful time

It does increase your risks but it isn't a given
Try to keep moving and relax and enjoy yourself
Slimming World has a diet for preg women if you are that worried but surely if you eat sensibly and move about as much as you can that will be enough?

Good luck and congratulations btw

I was at risk of GD with DS2, after a normal pregnancy with DS1.
I ate a sensisble low GI diet (lots of steak, salad and new potatoes!) and was cut out fruit juices and sugar generally. I lost weight during my pregnancy but this didn't seem to effect the 9lb 9oz bruiser of a boy I gave birth to! (It was a natural birth, with only tens machine and a touch of G&A)
Unfortunately I have put a lot of the weigh back on, but I'm working on that now - back to the low GI diet.

High BMI is worrying and can lead to complications. Try and be sensible about what you eat and try to get a bit more active, even the littlest effort can help.

Another pregnant lady with a high BMI (41). I am also 32, otherwise healthy, and have had a fairly nasty experience with the consultant (am 29 weeks now). Blah Blah Blah, you're so fat, fat, fat, you'll be dead in your 50s, you'll gain loads of weight while you're pregnant (only 11 lbs so far).

Are you sure the consultant used the appropriate size blood pressure cuff? I am ready to slap my midwife at the moment because I KNOW using a cuff that is too small can give a false high blood pressure. I saw her get out the standard cuff, protested, and was told 'oh it's fine', despite the fact that I know it isn't. She said my BP was 140 over something (it has never been that high, even during pregnancy).

Went home and found the British Hypertensive Society guidelines for measuring blood pressure (which the NHS adopted as their gold standard). I should have had an adult large size cuff based on my arm size. Had to see the GP a few days later, and he completely agreed the midwife was wrong, and took my BP with appropriate cuff. Top number was only 110! Obviously it can change day to day, but I am still fairly annoyed that what I believe to be a falsely high BP reading is now in my notes.

Am considering complaining about the midwife. If everyone is going to bitch on and on about me being fat, the least they could do would be to measure my BP accurately! My friend was also overweight, got measured with the wrong cuff size, and ended up being unnecessarily induced due to false high BP.

I firmly believe I am going to be fine. I may be fat, but I'm strong, and I'm sick of being pushed around.

Your post could have been me last August. My initial appt with my consultant really put me off her for the rest of my pregnancy. I know they have to point out the risks but there are ways and means of doing that and i think that they take the attitude that its sort of your fault for being big so that give them the right to put in in such a way it can be quite insulting

My BMI is 37 and i got told all of the same things (i already knew about the diabetes as i have had it in each of my 4 pregnancies the first being 17 years ago) - i knew about the high BP, the DVT risks ect ect and just like you i was so stressed by the end of my first appt that my BP was sky high. She recommended that i take methyldopa earlyish in my pregnancy but as i pointed out to she had severly stressed me out and when i came back the next day to the Day Asessment Unit for a BP series it was normal. It stayed normal till the last 5ish weeks of my pregnancy and even then apart from the Diabetes i consider i had an easyish pregnancy given the fact that i am big, 37 years old and it was my 4th pregnancy with a gap of 12 years.

Just trying to demonstrate that it seems to be the case with some consultants to point out the risks in a not very nice manner which can be scary ( i know i was ) but to take comfort from the fact that lots of big women have babies and have NO complications or very few, it just makes us at a statistically higher risk for complications. I have to say that if i had another one (steady on!) i dont think i would sit there and take in quite the same way though! Hope your consultant is a bit nicer to you next time and you enjoy a happy and healthy pregnancy Congrats and good luck

My 1st pregnancy I was a size 22 (not sure of bmi) and I was warned I could have complications etc I had a very easy pregnancy and a 3 hour labour resulting in 9lb 13oz DS! I had very good bp all through and not a hint of GD.
Yes you are a higher risk but its not a given its not nice being told straight but at least you know what MAY happen and can read up and inform yourself.

After having DS i went on to lose 7 stone and get to a size 12 and am now 28 weeks with twins and was again told that I faced complications (High bp, DVT, GD etc) again I have had a very straight forward pregnancy and my bp according to the mw is fab! She told me on monday that I look really healthy and its nice to see a twin mum who isnt suffering badly lol.

At the end of the day they are doing what is best for you and your bump and if there is any problems they will be on top of it
Enjoy your pregnancy and hopefully it will be a very uneventful time until you have that gorgeous babe in your arms x

I didn't have the high BMI, but I did have the high blood pressure and (in my second pregnancy) went on to develop pre-eclampsia. I did need to spend some time in the ante-natal ward, where a lot of the women had high blood pressure+ high BMI.

We did need to rest but in the end we all had reasonably healthy babies.

Mine were induced slightly early (week 36 and 37) and were small for their dates, but did not need time in SCBU and I was able to go home at normal time.

One of the taxi drivers who drove me to hospital told me that she had actually had an eclamptic fit on the delivery table- and she and the baby were still all right in the end, though obviously that's an experience you want to avoid.

Junk Science about Obesity and Childbearing

K mom plus size pregnancy resources webpage

PLEASE don't fret about this. My BMI was 37 when preggers with DD. Midwives and counsultants did their level best to freak me out about all the terrible things that were going to happen as a result of having the temerity to get pregnant whilst fat.

I would get gestational diabetes, my baby was going to be leviathan and rip me apart on the way out, my blood pressure would be crazy and I'd get pre-eclampsia (insist on a large cuff for an accurate BP reading BTW), there'd most likely be shoulder dystocia at birth etc. etc.

I had one MW get on my case because a blood glucose test had come back "at the high end of normal". Now, thankfully I've worked in a hospital lab and know full well that "high end of normal" is NORMAL. That's why they have normal ranges, because it's a spectrum. Plus, I knew that immediately before that blood test I'd had four pieces of toast with honey

My pregnancy was normal and healthy all the way through. I had a spontaneous vaginal birth on the dot of 40 weeks gestation, 2nd stage was quick and efficient (mostly cos I was thinking "bloody hell this hurts, I'm gonna get this over with quickly"!), and my DD was exactly on the 50th centile for weight when born.

Don't believe the hype, don't let them fret you.

Ahappymummy, my BMI was 35 at booking in, but it would have been a lot higher at conception. I lost between 1.5 and 2 stone thanks to hyperemesis in the first few weeks of pregancy. Since I got the weight loss under control I haven't put a pound on. I understand that overweight women tend not to put as much weight on during pregnancy anyway.

What annoys me is the amount of weight (excuse the pun ) put on your weight at booking in. When I had my first child my BMI at booking in was less than 30, but I put almost 5 stone on whilst pregnant. I doubt that my weight at the end was all that different from what it will be this time - but the systems in place and the way I am being managed is so very different.

I was 122kg when I fell pregnant with my youngest, had no problems whatsoever through the pregnancy and a fast, easy birth with no complications.

I did have to have a glucose test just to be on the safe side, and the result of that was fine, but other that it was all ok.

Try not to worry too much

guys,what can i say...?
Thank you,thank you,thank you!
All the posts have really made me feel better,tbh i felt so crappy about the whole thing yesterday because of that consultants comments but all of you have made me feel soooo much better.
I generally eat healthily,but just eat too much,and have a very active 3 year old so am on the go ALL the time.
It just annoys me that some medical proffesionals can make you feel so alien for being overweight and pregnant.
I have been told that i need to be referred to the aneasthetist because ther can be 'complications'administering the epidural..anyone had experience of this one?