Pregnancy is hard enough on a woman’s body but when she is overweight, it can make the experience even harder.
You can have more health issues when weight is a concern. One of those concerns is whether you will be able to have a natural birth.
There is thought to be a link between obesity and cesarean section. Cesarean section seems to be on the rise and one of the reasonings for this is overweight women.
Women are beginning to gain too much weight during pregnancy.
It is said that physicians are too quick to perform cesarean sections. If you are overweight and pregnant then you have twice as much of a chance to require a cesarean section as smaller women.
Complications
If you are pregnant and overweight then complications can set in that will cause you to have a cesarean section. Some of these complications are pre eclampsia, eclampsia, and diabetes. When you are pregnant with preeclampsia, you will have high blood pressure with protein in your urine.
You will get headaches, swelling in your ankles and feet, weight gain, and sometimes a change in your vision. Eclampsia is another condition that you will have to worry about. This condition comes with the diagnosis of Pre eclampsia.
Eclampsia will cause you to see spots; you may have blurred vision and you may have headaches with this condition. Another condition you will need to watch out for while pregnant is diabetes. Diabetes has to do with the blood sugar in your body so you will want to control your sugar intake.
If you develop this condition while pregnant, you will have unexplained weight loss, you will be hungry all the time, and you will have to urinate more frequently.
Some of these symptoms are the same as what you go through in pregnancy. You will need a diabetes test to determine for sure if you have this problem. Sometimes with diabetes, you can have problems with your skin such as discoloration or thickening.
Before and After Problems
Being treated by a health professional can be difficult if you are overweight. It is sometimes hard to place a breathing tube for anesthesia, placing an epidural can be difficult.
When the cesarean section is over you may have trouble healing because you are overweight. If you have had one cesarean section then it is probable that you will have to have another one with your next pregnancy.
There are always risks when it comes to any surgery and cesarean sections are no different.
Pregnancy Care
Taking care of yourself while you are pregnant is very important to prevent the possibility of a cesarean section. Eating a balanced diet and leaving the many of the fattening foods alone will give you better health during pregnancy.
Exercise should be combined with eating right. Both of these together will help to prevent high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels in your body. These two combined will give you the endurance you will need to have a better labor and delivery experience.
Being overweight while pregnant does not necessarily mean you have to have a cesarean section.
I can relate to this article as I know from first hand experience just how hard it is to lose weight, and to maintain it. I wrote a book called `Alone in the Storm,’ which has recently been published, and it is about an overweight woman who subconsciously put on the weight to protect herself from being hurt by love. She struggles with her weight problems, and in the end she manages to overcome them, but not before she learns some important lessons in life, and realizes that in order to find love, you have to first love yourself.
Carla Cunningham, Leeds UK
Published Book Author of Alone in the Storm (I’m on FBook)
The website for my book is – http://www.eloquentbooks.com/AloneInTheStorm/