Dangers of pregorexia

The first thing a woman should do if she is struggling with Pregoxia is to get help immediately. It is vital for her to get in contact with her gynaecologist, who is an expert and will give the required assistance. STOCK PHOTO

“Pregorexia” is a term coined by the media referring to a woman’s drive to control pregnancy weight gain through extreme dieting and exercise. Its risks might be higher for women who have a history of eating disorders and those who have a weak social support system.

The journey of growing another human changes a woman physically, emotionally, and mentally, as she prepares for motherhood. This experience varies from woman to woman, hence all cope differently.

“Pregorexia” combines “pregnancy” and “anorexia” to describe women who are afraid of gaining weight during pregnancy, hence inadequately nourishing themselves and their growing baby. “While “pregorexia” is not an official diagnosis, it is a term used to describe abnormal eating/exercise habits during pregnancy,” Paul Ivan Kato, a gynaecologist and obstetrician with Span Medical Centre states.

Kato says while far more women gain too much weight during pregnancy, some women excessively worry about their weight gain and experience body image issues during pregnancy.

Causes
Body image: Kato says on average, a woman gains between 11 to 13 kilogrammes during pregnancy and women that are underweight might have to gain up to 18 to 22 kilogrammes. While this increase in weight is healthy during pregnancy, women with eating disorders find it frightening and can worsen the disorder during pregnancy.

Life transitions: Pregnancy is a time of tremendous change in a woman’s life, and unfortunately, it can bring to life past psychological issues.

Dr Junior Ndozire, a gynaecologist and obstetrician with Mildmay Uganda, says some of these may include one’s conflict with body changes, personal concerns about mothering abilities, not to mention psychological separation in pregnancy.

Trauma: Research shows that trauma and abuse history increases the risk of perinatal and postpartum depression and other psychiatric disorders.

Signs
In case a woman does not have a history of eating disorders, but develops one during pregnancy, there are signs to tell its existence.
• Failure to meet the weight gain goals that usually mark each trimester or advancing pregnancy stages.
• Placing a continuous and heavy emphasis on calorie count.
• Engaging in heavy exercises even in advanced stages.
• Discussing about the pregnancy in an unrealistic manner.

Consequences
A study published in 2012 in the Cell Press Journal by Dr Jimenez-Chillaron, malnutrition during pregnancy may affect the health of future generations, linked malnutrition during pregnancy to metabolic changes in offspring, suggesting that anorexia in pregnancy could influence genetic changes within DNA.

Just as adequate nutrition during pregnancy positively impacts a new baby for a lifetime, poor nutrition can set up a child for various diseases, illnesses, and disorders later in life.

In the first trimester, Ndozire says the baby is forming all the vital organs, followed by embryo growth, not forgetting baby weight.

All these are vital because abnormally underweight babies are prone to several diseases such as a heart condition called Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA. More risks of inadequate weight gain include low birth weight and failure to initiate breast-feeding

Pregorexia could also trigger changes in a woman’s body, leading to abnormal uterine bleeding, and an increased chance of experiencing a miscarriage. This is in addition to plausible preeclampsia; a potentially dangerous pregnancy complication characterised by high blood pressure.

Dr Evelyn Nabunya, a senior consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, says it is worth noting that labour is energy intensive and if a mother does not have enough energy, they cannot successfully go through the process.

Ndozire also mentions that while there is so much at stake with pregorexia, it is still going on because of the captions on several media channels and magazines where women talk about how they lost all their baby weight two weeks after delivery.

This pushes some women that might not have had pregorexia to get into anorexic habits in the name of losing weight. Kato adds that as a community, it is vital that we continue to challenge the stigmas that surround eating disorders so those who are struggling can come forward to receive the help needed to recover.