Some woman are so eager to keep their shape they stick to rigorous diets. But will your baby pay for your designer figure? asks Fionola Meredith
Motherhood - it's all about self-denial, isn't it? From the moment of conception onwards, the presence of that imperious little tyrant in your tummy means no more debauched whiskey and cigarette-fuelled nights. No, from now on it's early to bed with a nice cup of Ovaltine - and that's just during pregnancy. Afterwards, self-sacrifice will take on a whole new meaning as the sweet serenity of pre-birth life is reduced to chaos and confusion by the loud demands of the enfant terrible.
Historically, of course, motherhood and martyrdom have enjoyed an unusually close relationship. The virtues of maternal self-denial have been rigorously promoted by many religious discourses. And those values are still with us. We hate selfish mothers, women who put their own needs and desires far in front of those of their children.
This is why there's been such an outcry over the news that pregnant New Yorkers are obsessively counting their carbs and desperately exercising to within an inch of their lives - all in order to stay skinny and sexy while pregnant.
Many diet before they get pregnant to keep their total weight gain to a minimum, while some outré mothers even have Caesarean sections early in the eighth month of pregnancy to avoid putting on the last extra few pounds of weight.
"Oooh, that's so selfish," we good mummies snarl self-righteously. After all, if we've - more or less - taken the socially-approved selfless route, it's infuriating to see these arrogant women putting themselves first.
Summing up much of the sniffiness, one American maternity researcher said: "The pregnancy and delivery is all about them. If you can't invest in your baby by gaining weight, I think it's a harbinger for lack of investment in the child."
But while it's very easy to take the moral high ground on this issue, are these gestating glamour-queens really harming their babies?
Most medical experts agree that dieting while pregnant is extremely ill advised. In particular, some dieticians have questioned the safety of low carbohydrate diets during pregnancy, arguing that without enough carbohydrates, the body cannot use its fat in the normal way and there is an incomplete breakdown of fat, producing a by-product called ketones.
When ketones accumulate in the blood and urine it causes ketosis - apparently a condition that can cause brain damage and mental retardation in the infant.
Studies from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology have also suggested that eating too much protein - as in the popular low-carbohydrate, high-protein Atkins diet - can prevent an embryo attaching to the wall of the womb or hinder its early development.
But other research has indicated that eating badly in pregnancy has little effect on the birth weight of the baby. Scientists at Oxford University found that babies of mothers from industrial countries weighed the same at birth regardless of the amount of food eaten by the mother.
Responding to this research, the British Nutritional Foundation said that while poor nutrition rarely affected the unborn child, the health of the mother was a completely different matter: "The baby will take what it needs from the mother, regardless of what she is eating. A growing foetus needs calcium and iron, and if the woman does not take on enough supplies, it will draw it from her own metabolism."
So perhaps these women are doing more to damage their own long-term health and well-being than that of their unborn children.
Author and social anthropologist Sheila Kitzinger, often described as the high priestess of the childbirth movement, for her views on weight-restriction during pregnancy, says: "Dieting to try and look skinny is daft. A top model in my childbirth classes did this and was shocked when she had a pre-term low birthweight baby who had been starved in the uterus. You don't have to make a pig of yourself. Ditch the junk foods. But you do need good protein, lots of vegetables and fruit and whole grains for the baby's sake and to boost your own energy. You're going to need that energy when the baby is born."
Linda Doherty, ante-natal teacher with Cuidiú, the Irish Childbirth Trust, was incredulous at the antics of these women.
"I have never come across this phenomenon. In my experience, many women take huge comfort from their increased size - it reassures them that the baby is growing as it should be."
Margaret McGuigan of the Irish branch of breastfeeding support organisation, La Leche League, is equally surprised. She says: "Most mothers are keenly aware that good nutrition in pregnancy is vital to her baby's health and development, and would be very unlikely to choose this time to diet."
But would extreme dieting during pregnancy damage a woman's chances of successfully breastfeeding? McGuigan doesn't think so: "I can tell you that with an even less-than-ideal diet, a mother's milk is the perfect food for her baby. Studies conducted in developing nations indicate that even mild malnutrition appears to have only a slight effect, if any, on milk output and no effect on the composition of mother's milk."
Although most expectant mothers in Ireland aren't emulating the weight-control tactics of the New York yummy(almost)-mummies, many are evidently unhappy about their increased girth.
The discussion boards of pregnancy websites are groaning with complaints about feeling fat and unsexy. On www.rollercoaster.ie, the Irish parenting site, fears of looking like a cow, a beached whale or a waddling blimp, or of appearing to have two melons stuck down a shirt are common.
One contributor posted: "Does this sound terribly selfish of me? I'm delighted about the baby - just concerned about turning into a frumpy mother of two who feels like crap."
But far from feeling bovine, some mums-to-be find the experience of pregnancy liberating. Alex is in her late 30s and is expecting her first child later this month. Looking relaxed and radiant, she says: "It's the first time since becoming aware of my body as a teenager that I have been quite un-self conscious about my size. It's unfortunate that the bump should be considered a fashion accessory. I certainly do not have a perfect little bump, but I'm proud of my large one."
Maybe the real sexy pregnant woman is the one who delights in her burgeoning, blooming body - not the one who's exhausted and demoralised from the extreme demands of weight-restriction.
See also www.cuidiu-ict.ie; www.lalecheleague.org