Once upon a time, pregnancy was a fabulous time in a woman’s life where she could “eat for two” and not worry about gaining weight.
Well, no more.
Pregorexia or “Mommyrexia” is on the rise.
What is pregorexia? It’s the pregnant woman’s eating disorder. Pregnant women will obsessively watch their calorie intake, binge and purge and/or exercise excessively during pregnancy in an effort to avoid putting on any extra baby weight.
You heard right.
One in 20 pregnant women may have an eating disorder (ED), sometimes referred to as “pregorexia”, and the figures may be higher still, says Professor John Morgan, head of the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders and Senior Lecturer at St George’s University, London.
“Women with eating disorders do not readily disclose their disorder to their obstetrician, and have been reported to ascribe their behaviours to symptoms of pregnancy, such as hyperemesis gravidarum [excessive morning sickness],” he said.
Some women get so obsessed with keeping their weight in check while pregnant that they go overboard on dieting and exercise and put their baby’s health at some risk, experts say. Those women may be influenced by images of celebrities who look thin while pregnant and immediately after giving birth. Some women are even going so far as to schedule C-sections during their eighth month of pregnancy and are skipping breastfeeding, all in an attempt to stay thin.
According to some experts, images of ultra-slim celebrities like Victoria Beckham and Nicole Kidman, who stay ultra-slim during pregnancy with their “barely-there” bumps, are inspiring and pressuring expectant mothers to diet and exercise to excess to stay slim during pregnancy and put the drop the baby weight right after birth.
Some experts also believe that changes in shape and weight during pregnancy may make a woman who suffered an eating disorder in the past, relapse. One study even reported a worsening of symptoms in pregnancy in women with either anorexia nervosa or bulimia who were symptomatic at conception.