Like singer Shy’m, most women gain a lot of weight during pregnancy. Here’s why.
In an interview with Télé-Loisirs, the singer Shy’m explained how, a year after the birth of her little boy, she managed to get rid of her pregnancy pounds. First, breastfeeding has “helped a lot”, as “stress and fatigue [qui] got the better of the last kilos.” The star also “returned to a healthier food hygiene, with protein products”, and returned to sports. “I’m not hyper-athletic but I have phases during which I give my all: there was dancing, boxing… Beyond the line, it’s important for physical health and mental”, she recalls.
Women gain between 11 and 16 kilos on average
Weight gain during pregnancy is a natural and positive phenomenon. On average, women take between 11 and 16 kilos. Figures that must be adapted according to the morphologies of each. A very thin woman will have to aim for 18 kilos, while an obese mother-to-be will have to limit herself to 9 kilos. Note also that weight gain depends on the metabolism of each. Some will take 30 kilos when others will take 5, because calories are ingested differently.
“There is no French recommendation, but the authentic one is that of the Institute of Medicine (USA) in 2009, which recommends a weight gain of between 11 and 16 kilos for a woman of normal weight. More generally, it is said that weight gain should be adapted to pre-pregnancy weight, i.e. according to the woman’s BMI”Explain Doctor Philippe Deruelle, gynecologist-obstetrician.
Facing disease or famines
Initially, weight gain allows pregnant women to cope with illness or starvation. Other factors also increase the number on the scale: growth of the fetus, increase in the weight of the placenta, development of the umbilical cord, membranes and amniotic fluid, growth of maternal blood volume, breast and uterus or even water retention.
Be careful, however, not to gain more weight than that set by your doctor, because being too overweight can be dangerous for the mother and the baby. “Obese women are 3 times more likely than women with a normal BMI to suffer from severe complications during pregnancy”, recalls gynecologist Géraldine Grauzam Rebot. We are talking here about gestational diabetes, hypertension, pre-eclampsia, caesarean section or even phlebitis. For the baby, the overweight of the mother increases the risk of fetal macrosomia, prematurity, malformations or obesity.