In Which I Learn Stuff From My Twitter Friends
Blogher’s Discovery Health ads chirpily plug a show called “Obese and Pregnant”, wherein birth is described as “physically and emotionally treacherous”. This seems like … an odd way to promote the show.
fonticulus (who has a blog here):
Wow. I am obese and having a textbook pregnancy. It hasn’t been treacherous at all. Though I am sure that doesn’t make good TV.
Sundry:
@fonticulus Yeah, it seems really misleading and tabloid-y and ridiculous to me.
@Sundry That kinda seems like an odd show period. What’s next? Red-headed and Pregnant? Athletic and Pregnant? I Didn’t Know I Was Athletic?
Sundry:
@ParsingNonsense I agree. “Pregnant and . . . BLUE-EYED!” “Pregnant and . . . LEFT HANDED!” “Pregnant and . . . FEMALE!”
Here is the network’s description of the show:
Follow three pregnant women preparing for one of the most magical days of any woman’s life: giving birth. It’s an experience that can be both physically and emotionally treacherous for expectant mothers who are morbidly obese.
After her mother’s death a few years ago, single mom Melba’s weight topped 500 pounds. She managed to lose much of the weight, but now in her third pregnancy, she’s back to 360 pounds.
Mercedes, too, is struggling in her third pregnancy, and is the biggest she’s ever been. On her wedding day she was a slim size four, but now she weighs nearly 350 pounds. She suffers from gestational diabetes, which means she has to inject herself 13 times a day with insulin to prevent her baby from growing to an abnormally large size.
First time mom Christie struggled for years to become pregnant, and now that she is, her joy is dampened by guilt. She worries her 300 pound body weight will affect her baby’s health.
In this dramatic hour, we’ll watch three women struggle to overcome medical difficulties like diabetes and high blood pressure, plus emotional dramas and extreme delivery room dangers, all in order to give birth to a healthy baby.
Well this sounds fun.
Posted by mo pie
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“…one of the most magical days of any woman’s life: giving birth.”
It’s magical, you see, unless you are fat. Then it is treacherous, because everything is more treacherous if you are fat! Nevermind that women of all sizes can have complicated pregnancies, and that plenty of obese women have totally normal pregnancies.
So it is very tabloidy, but tabloids sell. And big dramatic stories about fat women struggling to have babies get better ratings than my story would. Imagine my pitch: I am fat and healthy. I got pregnant in 5 months with no intervention. All of my tests so far indicate that my body and my baby are totally healthy. I’ve gained about 5 pounds at 23 weeks, I eat right and exercise, and the baby is growing just as it should. That is too boring for TV!
And it’s definitely too fat-positive for mainstream media. We need to make sure people understand that being fat is physically dangerous and emotionally fraught! It is a special condition that makes other conditions even more dangerous and difficult (my pregnancy, boring as it is, is still classified as “high risk”).
Uh oh. I didn’t realize that my pregnancy was so high-risk! Neither does my OB, apparently. At 300+ pounds, I’m 25 weeks pregnant, with no problems whatsoever. My first pregnancy was absolutely perfect at the same weight, with my delivery being quick, uncomplicated, natural, and ending with a healthy baby boy. Worked (standing) until the very last day, too.
I’m with harmony…our stories are way too boring for TV!
I wish the whole fatophobic world would just piss off.
LOLing for real at “I Didn’t Know I Was Athletic.” That is all.
My cousin is over 400 pounds and the doctor made her have a c-section with both her babies because he didn’t want her to “stress her body any more with labor.” If it were me I’d have found a new doctor.
Wow.
‘Cause thin women NEVER have high-risk or difficult pregnancies. They never get gestational diabetes, or need bed rest or emergency c-sections.
Yeah.
I’ve known many, many friends who were pregnant and weighed 250+. Every one of them delivered beautiful babies. I had two miscarriages, delivered my third baby daughter stillborn and my fourth pregnancy finally gave us a daughter, but I had to stay on my back in the hospital for two whole months due to toxemia. What’s my point? I only weighed 130 through it all. What does it all mean? Hell if I know. But, truth is, no one knows it all. Linda
I sure have mixed feelings about the show as discribed. It seems uncivilized in a way I cant articulate.
cheers
I was obese and pregnant – twice! And that extra fat probably saved both pregnancies, since I suffered from hyperemesis gravidarium (read: puked 5-10 times a day, every day, for 9 months). I lost epic amounts of weight during both pregnancies. My nasty, evil, sinful fat stores? Let me grow two healthy babies, even though I couldn’t keep anything down.
And then I had two fast, unmedicated labors and birthed both babies right out of my fat body.
I know, anecdotes =/= data, but my story is just as valid as the stupidity this show is putting out there. If I were these women, I’d be more worried about the stupidity of their physicians than the size of their bodies.
Sorry, but I know way too many obese women who had perfectly normal pregnancies and too many tiny women who didn’t (including the recover(ing? -ed?) anorexic who literally weighed about 100 lbs pre-baby even after coming through anorexia who ended up with gestational diabetes). Even the high-risk ones were pretty much OK when it comes to having their actual babies.
BTW Linda, I am so sorry to hear your story – and I’m glad you have a beautiful daughter out of the whole thing.
Anyway, it just makes me sick that they’d take this sort of angle, but the media’s take on fat sucks!
But…but…how would fat women get pregnant in the first place? No man would possibly want to have teh sex with them!
@Pegkitty:
heheheheh
That is awesome!
Mo, can I just say how nice it would be if one could actually “overcome” diabetes? I hear this all the bleepin’ time, and I realize this is not the point of this post, but it makes me angry enough to throw things. (The last time I actually threw something in anger was 1997). I live with this disease every day. Sometimes, it kicks my butt. Sometimes, we have a truce. I dream, hope and wish for the day it will be overcome. But until then? I have to live with it every f-ing day. I have to manage it every f-ing hour. I can’t overcome it because it doesn’t go away.
Same with fat. We all agree fat isn’t something to be overcome in the first place. Neither is diabetes.
Can I throw something now?
I weigh about 175 and last time I saw my doctor she said I would get diabetes if I got pregnant at this weight. There is no history of diabetes in my family. Without doing any blood tests or anything, just based on my weight. I’ve been wondering ever since then if she was just trying to scare me or what. The stupid thing was I was at the doctor to get a pap to re-up my birth control, she just felt like letting me know that even if I wanted a baby right now I’m too fat.
Anecdotal evidence doesn’t equal data, but thought I’d throw this in because reading the synopsis for that show made me laugh:
My first pregnancy, I was a size 10/12, and I had a HORRIBLE time, including getting gestational diabetes.
After that pregnancy, the gestational diabetes went away, and I gained quite a bit of weight, going up to an 18/20 or so.
Then I got pregnant again. That second pregnancy was smooth sailing the entire time, and NO gestational diabetes.
I’m guessing my “Sorta Average and Pregnant” story above wouldn’t be sensational enough for TV.
Also, I LOLed for a good 2 minutes at “I Didn’t Know I Was Athletic.” Genius.
Huh. All the women I know who have been fat and pregnant have had a perfectly normal range of pregnancies; that is most were fine, and a couple had some problems but not too bad. The thinner women I know have had far more and far worse problems. I don’t know why, generally. The one whose baby fared the worst was slender to begin with, refused to eat much for fear of gaining weight, and her baby was 5lbs when born, and is now two and is a very slow developer, she has only just spoken her first word.
Gee. I’m so glad I have a a compassionate OB/GYN who didn’t go into scary mood when I found out I was pregnant. Yes, I am in a higher risk category, but only because of my PCOS, and later finding out I’m going to have twins. Not because just because I’m obese.
I’m having a pretty normal pregnancy, so I guess I wouldn’t qualify for this show either.
Again, just anecdata, but the one friend I know who had gestational diabetes was slim and a freaking triathlete.
I’m so happy I found this site! I was just watching that show and started freaking out because I’m 24 weeks pregnant and I’m having my diabetes test in two days. And I had an insane craving for vanilla yogurt with chocolate cookie crumbs. And I thought for sure I was doomed to get gestational diabetes. But I feel so much better after reading this. And I’m laughing a bit about “I didn’t know I was athletic”.
Thank You!