The common topics women share at a kitty party or post a gym session mostly are related contraception, pregnancy, labour stories, feeding patterns etc. Being a senior mother of 3 child births, I am usually the center point for many questions related to these topics. One such a question in the post gym session was, “Is it OK to exercise while breastfeeding?” If we have a rational thought process with a reality check, we have more than half of the answers in front of us. If we have to understand about the merits and demerits of exercising, let us think rationally!!

For this, we need to think how nature has incorporated a woman’s life post childbirth? After a brief initial rest if you deliver normally, doctors make you walk around. Once you are home, you have the additional responsibility at home towards the newborn child and the possibility is higher that you move around. The extra activity may be implicitly termed as an exercise but may be a little unsystematic one. This makes us understand the basics that women can exercise post childbirth or while breastfeeding to that matter.

In fact, the exercise adds to your health and works positively for breast feeding women. You may be surprised to know that even rigorous workouts keep the volumes of milk produced in your body unaffected. There is a social stigma that the baby will reject your milk if you exercise while breastfeeding and it is absolutely incorrect. You can even breastfeed the baby shortly after an exercise session. However, this may be different in a cesarean section case as they are not permitted to exercise immediately post childbirth and the duration is little longer.

There is an article in 1992 after a study that mother’s milk is found to have lactic acid in higher proportions immediately after an exercise and babies turn repellent as the milk is not as tasty as it used to be. These studies based on the 1992 findings are now highly in debate as the current researchers are skeptical with them for multiple reasons. As the babies were fed milk using a dropper although they are not habituated to drink milk this way, the studies are not being considered.

Let us keep the findings apart as the debate is still on. As long as the baby seems satisfied with your milk, you can absolutely go ahead and nurse them after an exercise session. However, you may feel more comfortable to nurse before you exercise as you have a sense of relieving after you feed and exercising with milk on may be little heavy. But if you can carry a workout session before feeding a baby as long as your baby is happy with the milk, go ahead and have a supportive bra to get into the exercise routine.

If you gave birth through a cesarean section, your healthcare provider would be able to recommend the right workout regime for you as it may not be correct for you to get into the normal routine. Be wary while making a decision and it is your health which is important than staying fit.

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One is well aware of the fact that excessive weight gain or loss could possibly lead to an inability to become pregnant. The imbalance of weight is affecting the fertility of women profusely, so much so that around 12 per cent of infertility problems are due to imperfect body weight, meaning either obesity or low body weight, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Now, having pointed that out, let’s delve into the fact on why and how weight imbalance affects pregnancy. Actually, being extremely over or underweight impacts the pituitary gland, causing it to malfunction and spark problems with ovulation.

But besides that, many other problems have been examined by the experts, mainly related to overweight and infertility.

• Women who are overweight or obese are likely to take more than a year to get pregnant than average women of healthy weight.
• A woman who is obese is more prone to a miscarriage than a woman of healthy weight.
• Obese women are likely to have diabetes that develops during pregnancy and it is called gestational diabetes.
• Obese women tend to develop high blood pressure during pregnancy, resulting in damaging other organs, often the kidneys.
• Obesity also increases the risk of postpartum infection which leads to delivery related complications.
• Obesity also leads to an overdue pregnancy that is the continuation of pregnancy beyond the due date.
• Obesity also increases the risk of an emergency C-section. It also leads to a complication like a wound infection. Women who are obese are also less likely to have a vaginal delivery after a C-section.
• Infants born to obese women are likely to be large in size than it is normal, and need neonatal intensive care or have a congenital abnormality.

Obesity is associated with poly-cystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is one of the major causes of infertility. And sadly, it is found to be the most common hormonal problem, affecting at least one out five women’s reproduction.

Being underweight is also a concern when it comes to pregnancy as it is known to reduce the fertility quotient in women extensively. As this affects the hormonal balance and ovulation, there is less possibility of a successful pregnancy. In fact, compared to healthy weight women, underweight women are likely to take a year more in order to get pregnant.

So, finally, the question is, what should be the ideal body weight to have a successful pregnancy? According to the Institute of Medicine, obesity is measured by the ratio of height and weight of a man and woman.

• Normal BMI: Defined by an index of less than 25.
• Overweight: Defined by a BMI of 25 or more.
• Obesity: Define by a minimum BMI of 30 to 34.9 and maximum above 40.

And for improving the chances of having a healthy pregnancy, follow the below mentioned steps:

• Go for regular prenatal care check-up during pregnancy.
• Consult the doctor about how much weight you should lose or gain during pregnancy. But do not diet in order to lose weight as it can lead to malnutrition for your baby.
• Do regular activities like yoga and free-hand exercises as prescribed by the doctor.

The post Both Over and Underweight Can Affect Pregnancy! appeared first on Stem Cell Banking Guide and Pregnancy Tips For New Parents.