I’ve always wondered if being too thin could prevent people from having children. Does it cause miscarriages? I’ve seen an article once of some famous lady who was thin as a stick and stated that she needed to gain weight to have children. The purpose of this blog is to discuss the relationship between body weight and pregnancy and if the two are related. I am very thin though I eat normal. My mother has always thought that I am ill of anemia or something so she would always take me to doctors and stuff. Turns out I am normal. However, ever since I read the article, I’ve been wondering if my weight would effect my probability of having children. I know that in the old days “plump” women would be good candidates for wives since they were able to have a lot of children way before c-sections were available. In that time many women died of childbirth, and the fatter women have a higher chance of living than the thinner ones. This is what I have learned in countless courses such as history and stuff. But I want to know, is it true? Maybe the statistics are true. But now we do have c-sections. So do fatter woman have better chances of getting pregnant than skinner ones? By fat, I don’t mean obese, I just mean chubby. And by thin, I mean like, 110 pounds at 5”2 (me).
I have tried to gain weight countless times, nothing has worked because biologically my body is used to consuming a small amount of food and won’t take in any more. If I overeat I get really sick and throw up (sorry to mention this). I am sure I am capable of having children, but I want to know how capable compared to a person with more body fat.
But anyways, let me know what you guys think about this issue.
P.S. It is late now and I haven't done any research on this topic, so if any of you have some research, please share : )
Can Being Too Thin Prevent You From Having Children?
By ProgressiveUser - Posted on May 12th, 2008
I'm not a doctor.
However, I will say I've also heard the saying that so-called "hippy" women are somehow good at child bearing. Personally, I have no clue. And with today's medical advances, I doubt it matters at all what type of body you have in order to give birth.
Being underweight can cause infertility, yes. When the body has too little fat, the menstrual period stops. At your height and weight, you are a 20.1 BMI, which is within a healthy range. You should be fine.
But yes, long periods of time underweight can lead to long term infertility becasue the lack of period messes with the hormones...or something like that. I'm not a doctor either.
But tell your mom you are a healthy weight.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Yes, being too thin can prevent you from having children. You need a certain body fat percentage (so don't rely on the BMI... it doesn't tell you how much of that weight is fat vs. everything else). Hormones are fat soluble. You need fat in order for them to work properly.
Traditionally, women with larger hips had an easier time bearing children, because they could bear the weight better, and deliver more easily. With c-sections, it might be easier for them to deliver, but I don't know how that would affect the bearing of the weight in the first place. If you are too small, it'll be difficult, simply because you're putting on a greater proportion of your weight than a large woman would for the same size of baby.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Thanks for all your comments, they were very informative. As for all the comments about the hips, I actually am a "hippy" woman. So thats great to hear!
I have heard about things like this. Actress Calista Flockhart was told that she needed to gain weight in order to have her child healthily but I think she had an eating disorder where so really the issue was that the child wasnt getting enough food. I would say consult your genocologist.He/she would know better than anyone. I have a bone disease, where my body does not take in the nutrients it needs, my bones are brittle and my hips are actually spreading. I am 18, I look normal but am not. Im very thin becuase of this and cannot gain weight either.I have been told that I cannot have children not because of my weight but because I risk breaking bones when having one and because I may not be able to carry the child for the 9 mos. But my advise for you would to be to consult your physician.
Thanks for sharing your story. Hopefully you will be able to have children if that is your wish. You never know what new medicines they come up with.
Well I just had a baby about 7 months ago. She is my very first child. I am 5' 2" and 115 pounds. Most people would say that I am thin and hippy.It doesn't really matter how much weight you have to be to have a baby. When you get pregnant, you will want to almost eat everything you can think of. Plus , you have to eat small portions of food 4 times a day. This never worked for me. I just ate when I felt like it. Statistics are never right all the time because every person is different. When you get pregnant, you will hear so many things on what you should do or should not when it comes to having a baby. As long as you have a good period here and there and eat while you are pregnant, you will be just fine. If you have any other pregnancy or child questions, please feel free to tell me.
Yea I am fairly young, so I am not thinking of pregnancy for a while, but the subject interests me. I was just wondering what you meant by
As long as you have a good period here and there and eat while you are pregnant
Do you mean like monthly periods during pregnancy? cause i didn't know that was possible if that is the case.
I think you're right about statistics. Some issues really depend on the individual. Statistics is more like a gathering of information, or we could say an "average" but ofcourse not everyone is average.
Pretty sure she means regular periods when you're trying to conceive. One of the things a low body fat percentage will do is cause really irregular and infrequent periods.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
lol ok that makes a lot more sense now!
I meant what mvenus929 said. Yeah monthly periods before you decide to have a baby. When you do get pregnant, like I said you will want to eat all the time.Now you can actually have periods while you are pregnant. It happened to my mom when she was carrying my sister.
Do you know how that would be possible? Idk i'm just wondering about the biological aspects of it. Btw congrats on your baby! Lol I love children. And you're right about the eating during pregnancy thing. I haven't experienced pregnancy but I know that whenever my mom is pregnant she craves the weirdest things. During her pregnancies she drinks apple juice all day and after the baby is a week old, she stops drinking it. Its rather funny. We call it the apple stages.
You don't have periods, in the sense that your lining is not disappearing, and you're not losing the egg (which is now a zygote). You can still bleed, but I believe it's referred to as 'sympathy bleeding'. Not 100% sure on that.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Some doctors like to call it periods. Some do call it sympothy bleeding. Basically, don't be suprised if you bleed here and there for days at a time . Every women is different. If you do have a irregular period which is normal, when you do get ready to have a baby, try not to participate in any physical sports or work out too much because this can throw off your period. If your period is still not regular, the doctor can give you some pills to make it regular. You can also get a ovulation kit if you don't want to take the pills.
5'2 and 110lbs is perfectly healthy! I wouldn't worry about it. I am 5'1 and 105lbs, but I don't think I am too skinny to have children. I have always just been healthy. I think when you say skinny, like very very skinny girls, ones that are not healthy skinny.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
Drugs!
My fear is of miscariages. The healthy part is good to know though.
What do you mean? Miscarriages don't have to do with being petite. I'm not trying to say you are fat, but I am about the same size as you, and I don't see myself as skinny, but rather petite.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
Drugs!
I don't think i'm fat or too too thin. But i do think that the more body fat, the more capable a person may be to have a child. That may be a stereotype though. I don't support this view 100% which is why I wrote this blog to see what people think. Ofcourse, my mom has thin friends who have had miscariages. I don't know. But i think if a person is too skinny (i don't think im at that level) then they may have risk miscariages.
Weight has little to do with the chance for miscarriage unless you're underweight to the point that you're barely able to maintain yourself (ie - anorexic), let alone another being. At 5'9" and 175 pounds when I got pregnant, I was at the upper end of "normal" for my height and age, yet I still miscarried. On the other hand, I know someone who's had three very healthy kids and is 6' and 120 pounds dripping wet.
The confirmed miscarriage rate is about 20% before 12 weeks, but that number is estimated to be as high as 50% until about 8 weeks (estimated because before 8 weeks or so, it seems more like a really bad period and you probably didn't know you were pregnant to begin with). It's kind of a luck of the draw sort of thing, really. There's a chance that you'll miscarry, even after doing all the right things, or you could do every conceivable thing wrong and still carry a healthy baby full term. The best thing you can do is make sure you're doing what you need to do to keep you and your baby healthy (regular doctor visits, vitamins, light exercise, eating right, etc) and consult your doctor if you notice anything abnormal.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
I've heard of that. I forgot to ask if it was actually a period or not. Glad you know the definition : )