Recovery and Risk

Coping With an Eating Disorder During Pregnancy

By Kate Riener Boyd

Women with an eating disorder history are at an increased risk for postpartum depression, partly due to the concurrence of eating disorders and depression. The concern about weight and eating remains, and caring for the baby adds another stress factor. After delivering a fit, average-sized baby girl, Jenson worried about her weight. "It doesn't end once the baby comes," she says. "Then you're stuck with all this extra weight and you're tired."

Bad habits can be reawakened after childbirth. Jenson remembers that postpartum was the hardest for her. "I binged more during those first Mommy and Me groups, because everyone would bring pig-out food with the attitude 'We're breastfeeding so we can eat whatever we want,'" she says. "It's hard."

Jenson thinks the medical community may be too dismissive. "Doctors should be on top of the eating, especially with women they know have a history," she says. Fallon agrees that health care providers should be more aware of eating disorders, but she is wary of creating "pregnancy police" who put more pressure on an already anxious patient. Collins thinks doctors often oversimplify eating disorders. "It is treated like 'Stop doing that,' or 'just EAT,' which is like saying to a heroin addict: 'Stop doing that – it's so bad for you,'" she says.

Doctors and patients alike should be sensitive to eating disorders, during and after pregnancy, so that help can be attained when necessary. "Having any addiction renders a person unable to take care of themselves, let alone a baby," Collins says. "I believe through going to [Overeaters Anonymous] meetings I am able to live a better life and to be a fully present, sane Momma."

* Names changed to protect privacy.