QUESTION: I was told that a woman who is breast feeding her child should, under no circumstances, lose weight.
I am nursing a five month old now and am approximately 25 pounds overweight.
I am seriously considering continuing to breast feed my infant beyond the first 6 months but I cannot live with the extra weight.
If I do lose weight could it possibly harm either the baby or myself? Thank you for your consideration.
ANSWER: I have never heard of the admonition against weight loss that you refer to, and am happy it may not be too wide spread, because it is wrong. The weight gained during a normal pregnancy is there for a special reason, to furnish the mother with the nutritional reserves necessary to provide her baby with the nourishment gained through breast feeding.
Ask any woman who hasn't breast fed her infant about the troubles returning to pre-pregnancy weight levels, and you will understand that your decision has been the right one, and you may certainly continue without danger to yourself or baby.
The only caution I would have is not to try to crash diet to reduce your weight, but to increase your activity gradually and continue to nurse as before.
This will lead to a gradual and safe weight loss.
Just to check my information I contacted La Leche International (P.O.
Box 1209, Franklin Park, ILL 60131-8209 for you and others who may wish more information) and they connected me with Ms.
Doris Esposito, my Area Professional Liaison, who discussed this with me and afforded some additional information.
By providing your infant with its daily need, you are using about 700 calories to provide the nutrition.
That adds up to about a 1 pound weight loss every 5 days, if you eat only the amount of food your body consumes for its own metabolism, your 25 pound excess will just about be gone by the time you complete 4 months more of furnishing your infant with the best nutrition available.
Give or take an extra snack here and there, you will probably come out even after 6 months, and bestow upon your baby the head start that only mothers can give.
The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace the counsel and advice of your personal physician.
Promptly consulting your doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical problem.
