Losing weight after the pregnancy

Your spouse will have put on weight gain during the pregnancy. While this is normal, many women worry about this increase in their weight following delivery.

These are important things your spouse needs to know if she is trying to lose weight:

• Weight gain may be normal: It is important for your spouse to determine whether the weight she has gained is within normal limits. Pregnancy weight gain of anywhere between 15 to 30 pounds is absolutely normal and she need not worry about it. However, if she weighs over 30 pounds more than before she became pregnant, she may need to consider losing some of it.
• Weight loss needs to be gradual: There is no truth in the popular belief that successful weight loss program has to be speedy. Actually post-pregnancy weight gain may take up to years to reverse and is dependent on many factors.
• ‘Quick fix’ methods do not work: Doctors do not generally recommend any quick techniques or drastic diets to lose weight following pregnancy.

Your spouse can effectively lose weight by:

• Staying away from any ‘fad’ diets likely to harm herself and, if she is breastfeeding, the baby
• Combining a healthy diet plan with a sensible exercise routine
• Aiming for a reasonable loss that she can maintain, rather than a drastic loss that is short-lived
• Consulting a dietician if her own efforts do not show results