Tuesday, November 08, 2005

What are the Risks of Bulimia during Pregnancy

What are the Risks of Bulimia during Pregnancy

Here's an interesting article we found :
"It is important that women wanting to become pregnant treat their bulimia prior to conceiving. If bulimia moms-to-be start their pregnancies with a poorly nourished body, they run the risk of damaging themselves and those of their unborn children.

During pregnancy, the baby takes nutrients from the mother's body and if those nutrients are not replaced by eating nutritious food, the mother can develop depression, exhaustion and malnutrition.

The mother's teeth and bones can become weak, which can lead to stress fractures and broken bones later in life. Pregnant women with bulimia are also at higher risk for diabetes, and potentially fatal liver, kidney and heart damage.

According to a study reported in Eating Disorders Review (Nov/ Dec 2000), babies of eating disordered moms have a higher than normal risk of miscarriage and premature delivery. If they survive to term, these babies can have a multitude of problems, both physically and mentally.

They can be born with a cleft lip, a cleft palate, or jaundice. But most of the babies' problems will likely show up later in life. They tend to be slower developing, smaller and weaker than other children their age, according to the study. These children may never reach their full potential either intellectually or emotionally, and they can grow into adults who have poor social skills and difficulty relating to other people."

We recommend you read the complete article click here http://pregnancyandbaby.com/read/articles/5753.htm

With regards
Mark Dobryniewsky

2 comments:

Kristina said...

I am bulimic and pregnant and have been bulimic for 8 years. I am 33, almost 34, weeks pregnant now and my baby girl is perfectly fine and healthy. I was 103 pounds when I found out I was pregnant and am now 124. I eat very strict, healthy, small meals throughout the day with little to no fat and binge and purge on unhealthy things only once or twice a day after eating something healthy like fat free yogurt and a nutrigrain bar, for example, knowing she'll get the healthy food, I will purge the fatty, unhealthy food up that came behind what I ate for her. I am certainly and by no means "justifying" what I do but I feel strongly that your article is more of a scare tactic and loaded with generalized "bs" rather than unbiased fact from both ends of the spectrum of this particular eating disorder and its impact upon pregnancy. I urge you to research much deeper into this subject before naively rambling off "facts".

Vathani Navasothy said...

The tragedy from your response Kristina, is you wont KNOW the damage you have caused in your unborn child till s/he is actually born..and by then all the intervention would be too late for that Child's quality of life!
Dare we care to risk it, when your mindset IS one of defense, justification in favor of keeping bulimia, and behavior still chaotic with the daily purges that still takes place with even eating nourishing food such as Yogurt rich in Calcium, Phosphate, Protein & Linoleic acid, not to mention essential fatty acid that helps to form your baby's protective nervous system.

Kayle Looby, the author of this article goes on to conclude "If there's anything I could tell a pregnant sufferer of an eating disorder it would be this: your child will suffer (or not) all of his life because of what you do now," she says. "If you truly love that child, you'll just believe others when they say you need to get some help. You'll just take their word for it and do it. After all, if they're wrong, it's only nine months out of your life. If they're right, it's a lifetime out of someone else's."