Weight Loss Tips for Women: Hormonal and Edema Causes of Pregnancy Obesity

Let's talk about prenatal factors first.

Two years ago, I visited a friend in the United States. She was pregnant at the time, and her belly was huge.

She was three sizes larger than before, almost like an obese patient in the hospital. I found it strange and asked her if her doctor had mentioned anything during her prenatal checkups. She said, "No, the doctor said the baby is developing well."

"Don't you think you're fat?"

"Isn't this good? If I don't gain weight, how will the baby get nutrition?" she countered.

My friend's thinking is very representative; you could say most women think this way: "If you don't gain weight during pregnancy, then you should be concerned."

I was still worried, so I had her check up with a doctor I knew. The diagnosis was indeed prenatal obesity.

It's normal for women to gain weight during pregnancy. The main cause of prenatal obesity in women is a component called placental hormone. After a woman becomes pregnant, the placenta forms in her body, responsible for providing nutrients to the fetus. The placenta is also an endocrine organ, secreting a series of hormones (including human chorionic gonadotropin, placental lactogen, estrogen, and progesterone), collectively known as placental hormones, which maintain the various needs of pregnancy. One function of placental hormones is to increase the body's basal metabolic rate. A higher basal metabolic rate also stimulates the body to eat more in order to maintain this metabolic rate. This is how the body increases nutrition for the baby in the womb.

Another factor contributing to prenatal obesity is that as the fetus grows, it gradually compresses the mother's inferior vena cava, causing problems with blood return from the lower limbs and pelvis, leading to edema. However, this is not inevitable and is not the main cause of weight gain; recovery is usually rapid postpartum.