Overcoming Pregnancy Body Image Fears – Fear #2: Pregorexia

The growing phenomenon of pregorexia refers to anorexia in pregnant women or those who recently gave birth.

Most pregorexia sufferers have a history of anorexia or bulimia, and the weight gain required for pregnancy can cause past eating disorders to resurface.

Don’t be ashamed to seek help. Remember — you have a baby growing inside of you, and you have to take care of your body so your baby can be healthy during fetal development and once it’s born. Focus on the baby’s needs instead of your own.

The baby is helpless; you are not.

Excessive dieting and exercising is dangerous outside of pregnancy, but dealing with an eating disorder when you’re pregnant or trying to conceive can be even more detrimental.

“I felt very foreign in my body and I was not connected to it at all. I felt disgust with my body,” says Maggie Bauman, who suffered pregorexia when she was pregnant with her second child. Bauman, now a therapist in Newport Beach, California, gained 33 pounds during her first pregnancy. In an effort to gain less with her second, she exercised excessively — so much so that she almost miscarried at 11 weeks.

Because of her dangerously over-the-top fitness regimen and an insufficient diet, she was diagnosed with inter-uterine growth retardation, which meant her baby wasn’t getting enough nutrients. As a result, Bauman’s newborn had a very low birth weight and suffered seizures due to poor neurological development.

Overcome It: Don’t be ashamed to seek help. Remember — you have a baby growing inside of you, and you have to take care of your body so your baby can be healthy during fetal development and once it’s born. Focus on the baby’s needs instead of your own. The baby is helpless; you are not.

(Source: Parents.com)