Pregnant women urged not to overdo diet, exercise

Diet and exercise are staples in many women’s lives, but some women take it to an extreme.

It’s an even more dangerous scenario when it happens during pregnancy. It’s a growing problem some are calling “pregorexia.“

“I wasn’t thinking about the baby so much, it was more like, ‘I’m not going to let myself get out of control again,‘“ said Maggie Baumann, who is a recovering eating disorder patient.

After gaining 33 pounds during her first pregnancy, Baumann vowed to stay trim during her second. She ate only 1,200 calories a day.

“I was in the rigid, obsessive compulsive drive not to let my body get too big,“ Baumann said.

Her doctor told her she had intra-uterine growth retardation, and her baby was at risk.

“But all during this time I was still doing my exercise and I was still restricting my calories,“ she said.

Instead of eating for two, Baumann was starving for two.

Baumann, who started her pregnancy thin, had gained only 18 pounds just before she gave birth.

Looking back Baumann said she had pregorexia.

It’s not a clinical term, but it does characterize a woman battling anorexia during pregnancy.

“They are afraid of gaining weight and they also have a distortion in the way they perceive their own body,“ Dr. Bonnie Rosenberg said.

Silicon valley pediatrician Dr. Christine Halaburka also says pregnant women with anorexia are more likely to have babies with low birth weight.

“Theoretically, a woman who had been on a restrictive diet eating pattern will have a child who is much more at risk for not having normal brain and spinal cord development,“ Halaburka said.

When Baumann delivered her daughter, Whitney, the baby weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces.

Baumann said Whitney soon developed seizures.

“That’s when the doctor, the neurologist said she could have this from poor nutrition in the womb. I did a lot of things that could have killed her,“ Baumann said.

Baumann is currently a counselor helping other women battling eating disorders and hopes they’ll not make the same mistakes she did.

“Reach out and get some help and it might save your baby,“ she said.

After Baumann gave birth, she battled anorexia for 10 more years before heart problems landed her in the hospital.

That’s when her recovery began.

She said now she’s healthy and so is Whitney.