Are you struggling with the question about why you are losing weight during pregnancy? Is it normal to lose weight during pregnancy? What are the effects of losing weight during pregnancy?
Bodyweight plays an important role during pregnancy. This keeps you healthy enough to take care of you and your baby. You should plan your pregnancy in ways that ensure to help maintain healthy body weight.
Well, in this article, we will focus on the various causes of weight loss during pregnancy and what are the effects of losing weight during pregnancy.
Is Losing Weight During Pregnancy Normal?
It is completely normal and common to lose weight during the first trimester of pregnancy. As per the research, it is found that 70-80% (R) of women who experience morning sickness normally lose weight during pregnancy.
Morning sickness is what a pregnant woman gets during the first trimester of pregnancy. It is said that you lose weight at the initial stages of pregnancy as you are more prone to vomiting and suffer from nausea. This could be one of the reasons why they lose weight during pregnancy.
Causes Of Weight Loss During Pregnancy:
Here are a few causes behind weight loss during pregnancy.
Some of them are as follows-
1. Morning Sickness:
This is one of the primary causes of weight loss during pregnancy. It is caused by the symptoms of vomiting and nausea that you get to experience at the first trimester of the pregnancy. As per experts, vomiting could lead to weight loss.
This occurs around the sixth week and ends around the 12th week, as per the studies under the American Pregnancy Association. This is a very common phenomenon for the pregnant mother.
2. Diet:
Diet plays a very important role throughout the span of each trimester of pregnancy. You have to eat a lot of healthy and nutritious food during pregnancy to maintain body weight as required at that particular stage.
Not eating healthy food may be one of the reasons behind losing weight during pregnancy. Make you put yourself on a restrictive diet during pregnancy.
Note: Women who are overweight or obese are advised not to gain any weight during pregnancy.
3. Pregnancy Symptoms:
Another possible cause behind weight loss during pregnancy includes the standard pregnancy symptoms. There are certain pregnancy symptoms that affect the eating habits of pregnant women. These include text and texture of food, the smell of the food, etc.
This can all lead to indigestion, heartburn, constipation and many more. It doesn’t mean that all of this is directly related to losing weight during pregnancy but this makes the pregnant women eat fewer calories in their daily diet.
4. Miscarriage:
Weight loss is one of the symptoms of miscarriage. As per the American Pregnancy Association, the miscarriage occurs by the 13th week of pregnancy. So, it is regarded as one of the possible causes of weight loss during pregnancy.
5. Hyperemesis Gravidarum
As per the American Pregnancy Association, this is regarded as an important cause behind losing weight during pregnancy. It leads to severe nausea, weight loss, vomiting, etc. Sometimes it occurs beyond the first trimester of pregnancy as well. So, you have to be very careful in keeping your weight at the required level.
Effects Of Losing Weight During Pregnancy:
As per the experts and researches, losing weight during pregnancy harms you a lot internally. This happens as you may feel more tired and could be more susceptible to infection.
Losing weight during pregnancy does have negative effects on a baby’s birth size as well. This finding is published in the obstetrics journal BJOG. The weight loss can directly affect the increase of blood pressure, protein in urine, gestational diabetes, etc.
There are also evidences that the pregnant women who rapidly lose weight during the trimester of pregnancy have the chance of pre-mature delivery (R) with health issues in the
What To Do For Weight Loss During Pregnancy?
Here are some of the ways that can help guide you to maintain weight loss during pregnancy.
1. Know How Much Weight You Need to Gain:
This is one of the primary steps that you need to take care of for not losing weight during the phase of pregnancy. It is very important to figure out to know the exact amount of weight you need to maintain in each trimester.
This really works to maintain weight during pregnancy. As per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney diseases, (R) you have to maintain the weight on the basis of-
- For obese (BMI of 30 or more), gain 11 to 20 pounds
- BMI between (25 and 29.9:), gain 15 to 25 pounds
- Normal weight (18.5 to 24.9 BMI), it should be between 25 and 35 pounds.
2. Cut Down Calories:
It all depends on calories and the right amount of nutrition. It all depends upon the daily calories intake. (R) You have to eat the right amount of nutrition and calories through each stage of the pregnancy trimester.
Do make sure you take note of how much calories you are taking in a day. A pregnant woman has to eat at about 17000 calories (R) in a day. You can also take daily prenatal vitamins for the ideal weight for you and your baby.
3. Exercise 30 minutes Daily:
Exercise is one of the easy and healthy ways to maintain weight during pregnancy. It will keep you fit and you won’t experience any complications.
Exercise overall helps you a lot. It has an amazing effect on reducing the birth defects, aches and pain that you get during pregnancy.
But, before doing any exercise, refer to your doctor once whether it is safe for you or not.
4. Address Weight Concern Early:
As the weight gain mostly happens in first and third trimester, it is important to take care of your diet and nutrition seriously. You have to take the advice of the doctor in order to maintain the ideal weight throughout the span of pregnancy.
When Should You Worry About Weight Loss During Pregnancy?
As I mentioned above, weight loss is common and normal at the initial or first trimester of your pregnancy. At normal you gain up to 9 -10 kilos of weight during pregnancy but if you lose more, then it is a matter of concern. At this point, you can consult a doctor.
You have to see a doctor with every passing month. You have to be very particular towards your ideal weight that is required at this point of time.
Pregnancy comes with a lot of challenges and opportunity for pregnant women. So you have to be very particular about it in maintaining the ideal weight that is required during each trimester. I hope this article has given you a good lot of information about the reasons behind losing weight during pregnancy.
