It is common to think that if you are pregnant you should eat twice as much and that any type of food is worth it; and with this thought many women give free rein to their cravings. Come on, let him They take pregnancy as an excuse not to deprive themselves of anything and it is common to see pregnant women who gain weight disproportionately. But the reality is that during pregnancy you should watch what you eat much more and continue eating normal amounts.
Also, there are women who think that if they eat a lot their baby will be born bigger, stronger and healthier. But this is not true, the placenta provides the baby with the nutrients that she needs no matter how much the mother eats without stopping.
Weight gain during pregnancy
With the thoughts outlined above, gaining too much weight in pregnancy is more common than it seems. How much weight you gain in pregnancy depends on many factors and not only what the mother eats. Up to a certain point it is normal for a few kilos to be taken, on average they would be between 9 and 12 kilos gradually throughout the pregnancy. Some complications of pregnancy, such as hypertension or gestational diabetes, can occur more easily if you gain too much weight during pregnancy. This limit of "too much" could be around fifteen kilos, however, it will depend largely on the woman and her characteristics. In addition, gaining too much weight negatively affects how the woman will face childbirth for purely physical reasons.
If gaining too much weight is not a good thing, gaining too little weight is also bad. The woman's body will give a certain priority to the baby and it will take vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from the mother, causing the mother to suffer from certain deficiencies, especially nutrients such as iron, calcium or iodine.
normal weight gain
As said before, gaining weight during pregnancy is normal and healthy up to a point. Throughout pregnancy you gain kilos and you gain weight.
Each woman is different, she has her own physical and metabolic characteristics and way of life, which makes it impossible to say how much weight a pregnant woman should gain in a universal way. On average, a pregnant woman should gain 9 to 12 kilos throughout her pregnancy1 – 2 kg in the first trimester, 4 – 6 kg in the second and another 4 – 6 kg in the last trimester of pregnancy
Logically, if the woman is overweight before becoming pregnant, the recommendations will be lower. Similarly, if a woman is very thin and becomes pregnant, it is most likely that her gynecologist will recommend that she gain more weight than a normal person. Thus, when you start your pregnancy, you lose kilos, you can easily gain 12 or 14 kilos, if you start at a normal weight, it is best to gain about 10-12 kilos and if you started with more weight than normal, the weight gain should not come more beyond 8 – 9 kg.
And eye, If you are pregnant, it is not the best time for you to start losing weight diets, unless your doctor or gynecologist expressly tells you to do so. You and your baby need to be well fed.
How are the kilos that a pregnant woman gains distributed?
It can be said without mistake that all these kilos that are gained during pregnancy are not "gaining weight" in the strict sense. The growth of the baby, the increase in blood in the body, the formation of the placenta, etc., suppose an increase in weight. With this I mean that if during pregnancy you gain weight within normal limits, most of the weight will be lost with childbirth.
If we take the upper limit of the "normal" average that a woman should gain weight, that is, twelve kilos, the weight that the pregnant woman puts on would be distributed 3 kg in the baby, 1.5 kg in the increase in blood, 1 kg in the breasts, 1 kg in the uterus, 0.7 kg in the placenta, 2.2 kg in the form of fluid retention and only 3 kg (about 25%) would be fat that is stored in the mother's body.
Can you lose weight during pregnancy?
Some women begin pregnancy by losing weight. This is mainly due to the vomiting. The nausea suffered by more than half of women at the beginning of pregnancy not only causes them to vomit part of the food they eat, it also decreases their appetite because digestion is not very good and food does not taste very good. All this together can make you lose weight in early pregnancy.
If a pregnant woman is obese, it is likely that her doctor or gynecologist will recommend that she lose weight. In this sense, women must be clear that you should always follow the diet proposed by a specialist and not follow any weight loss dietBoth mother and baby need to be well nourished. Losing weight during pregnancy in obese women can reduce complications during pregnancy and childbirth, such as the need for cesarean section, preeclampsia (associated with hypertension) and others. This was concluded by a study by the University of Ludwig-Maximilians. Still, it is best for obese women to lose weight before becoming pregnant.
Always ask your doctor or gynecologist for advice, they will control your weight during pregnancy and guide you in the best way for you and your baby.