Midwife shocked at my weight gain

[louisa007]

I live in spain. I'm 38 weeks & have put on nearly 3 stone. My midwife is scandalized & people agreeing with her is starting to really get to me. I'm 5.2 height, was just over 8 stone & put on nearly 3 now. God - is it so bad? I am starting to feel guilty and ashamed.

Surely a stone of that will be baby and all that goes along with it though?

That sounds pretty normal to me. I had borderline HG and still put on nearly 3 stone in total. There's the baby, and the fluid, and the extra blood, and then you get the joyous water retention at that stage. I was the same build as you and went from 8 1/2 stone to at least 11 1/2 stone.

Well, yes I guess so. They say he is 7 pounds already (that was last week).

Average weight gain for a healthy weight woman should be between 25-35lbs but you're not much over the top of that average.

Well 3 stone is a lot when baby will only be around 7-8lb of that. So adding everything else the average would be 1 1/2 stone gain. Also 3 stone ontop of 8stone is like adding half your weight again in a short space of time

Anyway, it's done now, baby almost due. Just make sure you are healthier ove true next few months

I put on 4 :(

'Baby' is now 2 and I've still got 2 to lose!

Having said that, ignore. FFS. You have enough to worry about. Silly midwife.

My midwife acted a bit scandalised when she weighed me at 38 weeks and I was 69kg (bit under 11 stone I think). I was about 8st 2 when I got pregnant.
I just said, oh so exactly the same as I was with dd1. She calmed herself down a bit after I said that.
If it helps I was back to prepreg weight by about 4 mths post partum both times making no effort to lose it.
I had a lot of fluid, plus my breasts were insanely big. There is the placenta/baby/amniotic fluid/extra fat laid down in preparation of b/feeding/blood/water retention.
I am also similar height to you, just under 5'3.
Don't worry about it, you can hardly do anything about it, and actually really unhelpful of the midwife to make you worry about it.
Good luck with the birth

Artandco, it really depends on circumstances of the pregnancy though, surely. I have HG when pg. first 20wks in and out of hospital due to the severity of the sickness and the second 20wks only managing to keep out of hospital by literally stuffing my face with stodgy carbs constantly and I mean constantly. Last time, the only liquid I could keep down was full fat coke. Not Diet Coke and certainly not water. If I stopped eating for more than half an hour then I'd be back in the vomiting cycle. So each time my normally size 10 body puts on between 3 and 4 stone. And there really isn't anything I can do to change that.
Op, really don't worry. As long as you are eating what your body needs, you are fine. I am unable to eat fruit or veg or very little of what's healthy when pregnant and my consultant told me not to worry and just to survive on what my body would keep down.

I agree with Mini - if you've spent half your pregnancy barely eating and still manage to put on 3 stone, then it's hardly an excessive weight gain in anyone?

So I am really sorry to hear this. While I know it is good for your health not to gain too much, your amounts sound perfectly normal. I was a slim laydee before getting pregnant - I did a fitness class 2-3 times a week and enjoyed all food in moderation. At 5ft 6 I weighed 9 and a half stone. So then pregnancy. Like Mini says above, if I didn't eat I threw up. This went on until I went into labour. At times the only thing that worked was Coke. Full fat one! I would make all my usual food - veggies and stuff. Then promptly throw the whole lot up. I just hoped it would stop, but it didn't. This was my daily life. Two weeks before the baby was born I stood on the scales, I was 15 and a half stone. I nearly died. I know I put more on after that. DD was a small 5lb 2oz when born and I lost about a stone after one week. That was it! The rest came off mostly within a year, bar about that last stone and a half. Nearly 10 years later I understand a bit more about what was going on. I had another baby, similar sickness but ate Low GI food. I was pleased to put on 3 stone (only!). A doctor told me a few years ago that there was very little I could have done to stop what happened and pregnancy hormones are very powerful. I could have cried (with relief) as I hate it when people slag off mothers for gaining too much weight - and the smug ones who boast when they don't. I am now, as I was before, a fit, slim woman who doesn't sit on her arse all day and inhale pizza. But I gained a stonking amount of pregnancy weight. I wouldn't wish what happened to me on anyone. Now I have two beautiful healthy girls and none of us are overweight.

Just chuckling at the thought of a midwife being 'shocked' at something as irrelevant as weight gain! You realise it is technically impossible to shock a midwife (although we do feign interest/surprise/amusement very well it appears from reading some mn threads!) allowing for the fact this was in Spain and they may do things differently there I doubt very much that she came home and posted on a chat site that a pregnant woman she had seen in clinic had put on some weight. Try not to be so self absorbed and just get on with it!

Haha - I'm not self absorbed at all. Just reacting to my midwifes comments at my weight gain, but to be fair it was the family planning doctor who almost sniggered at my extra kilos, not the midwife. I do get the impression things are different here to the UK. My English friends say the weight gain is normal & Spanish friends shocked.

That sounds very old- fashioned and similar to what used to happen here according to my Dad, who is a retired GP, you were supposed to put on no more than two stone and they weighed you a lot to check, he raised an eyebrow at my weight gain with DS1 even though I actually only put on 28lbs. He was also disapproving of how much weight DS3 put on as a baby( he did look like the Michelin man) and felt I was over feeding him whereas I had been told that you can't over feed a breastfed baby!

3 stone? Amateur, you

Before getting pregnant I promised myself I'd only put on 30 pounds. Then a donut caught me! I literally could not stop eating.

I put on 4 stone and most of the women I know put on at least 4 stones. I don't know of anyone who put on less than 3. A colleague put on 70 pounds - one baby, not twins.

Weight gain is totally normal. And don't worry, it will drop off you once you give birth.

Do not feel guilty or ashamed.

I remember when I went for my 6 month scan and the nose looked at me disgusted and said " oh your so big you put on so much weight " I was mortified I put on 4st whilst pregnant i was a size 12 im now a 16 /18 im wuite happy with my body would like to tone up a bit but curves are in fashion lol

Well I've just had a 9lber and last got on the scales several weeks ago having gained 3st. Would not be surprised if I gained more than 4 in total. But I look fine on it, baby is perfect and I will lose it, all in good time.