Overweight pregnant women have been targeted with unhelpful advice from Professor Mike Kelly, NICE public health director.

This BBC News article explains that "if a woman is obese during pregnancy, she has an increased risk of developing serious complications like pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, miscarriage and stillbirth. She is also more likely to have a Caesarean section. NICE says women with a body mass index of more than 30 should be encouraged to lose weight before they become pregnant. During pregnancy, losing weight can be harmful to the unborn child, so women are advised to eat healthily and to do gentle exercise."

Unfortunately, in the audio clip from this morning's Radio 4 Today programme, Professor Kelly gives two unhelpful pieces of advice. I'm with him when he says to avoid sugary drinks and drink plenty of water, but when he says that 'healthy eating' for everyone should be based on starchy food and avoiding fatty food I disagree. I believe a healthy diet is logically one that approximates to a Stone Age ('Paleo') diet, and is low in carbohydrates. But the most important advice of all for pregnant women is to avoid salt and salty food. This is the safe way to avoid fluid retention and excess weight gain. And it does not entail going hungry or counting calories.

During pregnancy, because of the hormone changes it brings, a woman is vulnerable to salt/sodium. If during this vulnerable time she eats salty food, her blood volume will rise more than it would if she were not eating salty food. This is because high oestrogen in the blood stream causes the muscles in the walls of the blood vessels to relax and so the blood vessels allow in more sodium and the water it attracts to itself. The veins become swollen.
When the baby is born the hormone levels change again and the oestrogen level goes down. The muscles in the walls of the blood vessels tighten up again and some of the excess salt and water in the blood is excreted. But if the veins were badly overstretched and weakened during the pregnancy, the woman will not return to her former weight. With each succeeding pregnancy, the problem will worsen; the veins will become weaker and more swollen; the blood volume will rise further; she will become more overweight.

See Pregnancy Advice about Salt.

How to lose weight.

Vulnerable Groups.

Obesity in IVF pregnancy doubles risk of miscarriage

See BBC News article. It is such a shame that overweight people are mostly unaware - because the health professionals do not tell them - that reducing their intake of salt and salty food will reduce their excess weight by reducing their excess fluid retention/water weight, caused by sensitivity to salt. It is even more important, during pregnancy, that women keep their salt/sodium intake low, because the natural hormone changes that occur during pregnancy make them even more vulnerable to salt during the period of pregnancy. It is salt reduction, rather than calorie reduction, that should be advocated. Salt reduction would reduce the risk of miscarriage, as well as the risk of high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, excessive weight gain and many other health problems associated with pregnancy, both IVF pregnancies and non-IVF pregnancies.
See Pregnancy Advice.

Pregnant women who are depressed are twice as likely to have a premature baby compared with those who have no symptoms of depression, say scientists.

Depression can double risk of premature baby, scientists say
Report in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The most severely depressed women have the highest chance of giving birth early. The study also suggests that other risk factors, such as obesity and stress, can make the link between depression and premature labour even stronger.

Researchers interviewed 791 women in San Francisco around their 10th week of pregnancy and found that 41 per cent of the women reported significant or severe depressive symptoms.

The women with less severe depressive symptoms had a 60 per cent higher risk of a premature baby compared with women without significant depressive symptoms. Women with severe depressive symptoms had more than twice the risk."

Reducing salt intake reduces all these risk factors - obesity, depression and stress, so pregnant mothers should be strongly advised to avoid salt and salty food during their pregnancy.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

And see Sodium in foods and

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

Associated health conditions

When maternal age and number of previous miscarriages were taken into account obese women were shown to have a higher chance of a further miscarriage

Obese women at greater risk of repeat miscarriages
Article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"Researchers at St Mary's Hospital in London found that obese women who had suffered one miscarriage had a significantly increased risk of a further miscarriage compared to those who were of a normal weight.

The 11-year study investigated the effect of body mass index (BMI) on unexplained recurrent miscarriages. The women had their BMI measured and were placed into one of four categories: underweight; normal; overweight; and obese.

When maternal age and number of previous miscarriages were taken into account, those women who were obese were shown to have a 60 per cent higher chance of a further miscarriage compared to those with normal weight, although the precise reasons are not yet clear.

Winnie Lo, Clinical Nurse Specialist at St Mary's Hospital, said "Ours is the first study to look directly at the link between BMI and recurrent miscarriage. It shows that obese women who experience recurrent miscarriage are at greater risk of subsequent pregnancy loss."

It's such a shame that pregnant mothers aren't told the truth about how obesity comes about and how best to reduce it...)o:

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

See advice for pregnant mothers

Embryos get destroyed by fertility clinics' mistakes

Embryos destroyed by fumbling clinics

Extract from the Sunday Telegraph:

"Hundreds of accidents at fertility clinics have led to couples' precious embryos being lost, damaged or destroyed, the Government has ­admitted.

More than 500 "adverse incidents" have been recorded by clinics since 2003, with a sharp rise in the number of errors reported last year.

Errors typically involved the loss of embryos, eggs or sperm through staff dropping dishes, tripping when holding them or accidentally throwing them away.

Failures of equipment also compromised the survival of embryos, including power failures affecting vital electrical equipment."

Obese women can increase their fertility by avoiding salt and salty food. - Reducing sodium intake reduces fluid retention, thus reducing obesity, which is a major cause of infertility.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

See FAT RETENTION

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

Wider implications of the flawed theory that excess calorie intake causes obesity

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Poor maternity care is causing deaths in Britain

Report: poor care in half of maternity deaths

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"Half of all women who die during pregnancy or after giving birth have been victims of poor quality care from doctors and midwives, a report claims.

Sub-standard care contributed to 149 of the 295 maternity deaths between 2003 and 2005, according to the study by the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (Cemach).

In many cases, mothers could have been saved if common medical conditions had been recognised earlier, it is alleged. Some women died because doctors and midwives were ignorant of "basic clinical knowledge and skills".

The review of deaths in pregnancy and childbirth, entitled Saving Mothers' Lives, also finds that many women were not seen by a senior consultant at all, even those who were in a critical care unit.

It calls for better communication between staff to cut the number of avoidable deaths. Many consultations are now carried out over the telephone, meaning problems can be overlooked, it suggests.

The report, published today, says: "The apparent lack of basic clinical knowledge and skills among some doctors, midwives and other health professionals, senior or junior, was one of the leading causes of potentially avoidable mortality."

"Gwyneth Lewis, the editor of the report, said: "Some women coming in for maternity care had arms so big that the blood pressure band couldn't go around them, and operation tables couldn't take their weight."

For the first time, cardiac problems are identified as the biggest single cause of death in maternity.

Around 16 per cent of those who died had heart disease, which is often associated with obesity. As a result of the report's findings, Cemach is to launch a three-year national inquiry into obesity in pregnancy."

I could save them their three-year national inquiry into obesity in pregnancy! - Here is the explanation:

Obesity and pregnancy

Pregnant women are at increased risk from obesity because of hormone changes during pregnancy - e.g. higher oestrogen levels. - Oestrogen is not just a sex hormone; it is a steroid, and in common with many other steroids, when its concentration in the blood increases, the walls of the veins relax and become more vulnerable to the incursion of extra salt/sodium and its accompanying water. - This extra water is, of course, a form of fluid retention: obesity is caused by fluid retention brought about by sodium/salt sensitivity. These pregnant women have become more sensitive to salt/sodium. This is why dieting does not work. The truth should be told - namely that to lose weight it is necessary to give up dieting and concentrate on reducing salt intake. To avoid unhealthy weight gain and many other health problems, it is very important that pregnant mothers keep their salt intake low.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

Wider implications of the flawed theory that excess calorie intake causes obesity

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Infertility crisis looms in the west as obesity levels soar. - SO AVOID EATING SALT AND SALTY FOOD!

Infertility crisis looms in the west as obesity levels soar - Guardian

Extract:

"Soaring levels of obesity in the western world are expected to trigger a major new infertility crisis among women, doctors warn today. The Lancet reports that the obesity epidemic will leave more couples struggling to conceive as women suffer more fertility-related problems.

One expert suggested the proportion of couples seeking infertility treatment could double to one in five within a decade. "We're at the tip of the iceberg," said Bill Ledger, professor of obstetrics at the University of Sheffield. But he said the problem could be eased if women lost weight before resorting to medical interventions to get pregnant.

The Lancet study focuses on a common disorder - polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - which affects one in 15 women worldwide. PCOS occurs when women have excess male hormones which cause little cysts to grow on the ovaries. Symptoms include irregular or missed periods, infertility, excess hair, acne and insulin resistance which can make them more prone to diabetes.

"Obesity has a substantial effect on the manifestation of polycystic ovary syndrome," the paper says. "Excess weight exacerbates metabolic and reproductive abnormalities in women with the syndrome, and family studies suggest weight gain might promote ... polycystic ovary syndrome in a susceptible population."

Robert Norman, the lead author at the University of Adelaide, Australia, said: "Obesity doesn't cause PCOS but it exacerbates it ... it's argued that obesity will cause a crisis in infertility and I agree.

"Obesity has huge consequences for fertility but also when you treat someone who is obese and get them pregnant you have increased problems for the pregnancy." Problems include pregnancy-related diabetes, abnormalities and a decreased chance of a natural labour."

Reduce your risk of polycystic ovary syndrome and lose weight and improve your health in many other ways by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Obese women who become pregnant are more likely to give birth to babies with deformities

Birth defects more common with fat mothers - Telegraph

Extract:

"Obese women who become pregnant are more likely to give birth to babies with deformities, new research has shown.

Seven of the 16 most common birth defects occurred in babies born to women who were obese or overweight before they conceived, according to an American study published yesterday.

The results are worrying as Britain’s obesity epidemic continues to grow. One quarter of women are currently classed as obese and this is expected to rise over the next five years.

Overweight and obese women are known to be at risk of infertility, complications during pregnancy and high blood pressure as well as chronic diseases such as diabetes.

A team at the University of Texas, in Houston, interviewed 10,249 women in eight states whose babies were born with birth defects between 1997 and 2002.

The women were contacted between six weeks and 24 months after the baby’s birth and asked for their height and weight before pregnancy and compared them with 4,065 women who had babies without birth defects during the same time period.

Obese women were more likely to have babies suffering from spina bifida, heart defects, malformations connected to the genitals and bowels, missing toes, fingers, arms or legs, a hole in a diaphragm, navel defects and a condition called gastroschisis where organs protrude through the abdominal wall.

The study was published in the August issue of Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
The authors of the research paper said the mechanism which causes the defects to occur more in children of obese women is unknown.

I suspect that one of the causes of the birth defects is likely to be that the obese mother was 'dieting'/'slimming' to try to lose weight or limit weight gain during the pregnancy and that the foetus therefore received inadequate nutrition. - Pregnant women should be told the truth - that the safe, reliable way to limit weight gain during pregnancy is to keep salt intake to a minimum and forget about dieting! - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.