Pregnancy, Motherhood, and Eating Disorder Research

• NOTE: I am currently studying this complex subject and would be honored to hear your experience. If you have suffered from an eating disorder before, during, or after pregnancy please participate in my anonymous and confidential survey. If you are a loved one and would like to share your experience please contact me at research@daysliketomorrow.com for further information.

Pregnancy, motherhood, and eating disorders. At first glance they appear unrelated. Look deeper and you'll find that many women (both during and after pregnancy) experience a spectrum of body related issues ranging from benign concern regarding weight gain and loss, to active eating disorders. An estimated 10 million women in this country suffer from an eating disorder and 20% of pregnant women as well. Many women feel uncomfortable discussing a past or current eating disorder with their OBGyn, alarming considering the research:

It appears that a history of disordered eating may predict reproductive trouble even years after treatment and progress in recovery. In the U.S., about 20 percent of women patients who ask for help at fertility clinics have had an eating disorder.

A study in Denmark suggests that even eight years after successful ED treatment, the chances of having a high-risk pregnancy are the same as for those women receiving treatment immediately before they conceive. (Secher, et al. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, January 2004.)

According to an article in the September 2001 American Journal of Psychiatry, pregnant women with active eating disorders or a history of eating disorders have an increased risk of delivery by cesarean section as well as postpartum depression.

Research by the March of Dimes and the California Birth Defects Program found that women having eating disorders during the first trimester had nearly double the risk of giving birth to babies with neural tube defects such as spinal bifida. Those who fasted during this time had almost six times the risk.

According to the results of a study conducted at George's Hospital in London, active bulimia raises the risk of miscarriage, prematurity, gestational diabetes and postpartum depression.

To better understand the destructive combination of pregnancy and eating disorders, watch this moving video clip of two couples sharing their personal accounts while guests on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet.