Weight Changes Following Delivery

Around the 6-week mark after the delivery about 30% of women will have reached their pre-pregnancy weight.

At the 6 months mark the majority of mothers will have reached the pre-pregnancy weight again.

However, there is a smaller group of women who were already overweight prior to getting pregnant and/or who gained excessive weight during the pregnancy (usually more than 30 to 35 lbs.).

They tend to retain about 10 to 11 lbs. at the 6 months mark and if they do not educate themselves about proper nutrition and exercise, they will experience excessive weight gain with future pregnancies or as time passes (see link to the chapter on health, nutrition and fitness).

Disclaimer:

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References:

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4. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse  Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 245.

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18. Gabbe: Obstetrics - Normal and Problem Pregnancies, 3rd ed.,  1996 Churchill Livingstone, Inc.

19. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse  Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 251.

20. The Merck Manual, 7th edition, by M. H. Beers et al., Whitehouse  Station, N.J., 1999. Chapter 250.

21. Ignaz P Semmelweiss: "Die Aetiologie, der Begriff und die  Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers" ("Etiology, the Understanding and  Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever"). Vienna (Austria), 1861.

22. Rosen: Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice, 4th  ed., 1998 Mosby-Year Book, Inc.

23. Mandell: Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, 5th ed.,  2000 Churchill Livingstone, Inc.

24. Horner NK et al. J Am Diet Assoc Nov-2000; 100(11): 1368-1380.

25. Ferri: Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed., Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc.

26. Rakel: Conn's Current Therapy 2004, 56th ed., Copyright © 2004 Elsevier

Last Modified: Dec. 26, 2008