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HAVING A BABY USED TO BE ALL ABOUT ‘EATING FOR TWO’, BUT SOME MUMS-TO-BE ARE SO SCARED OF PUTTING ON WEIGHT, THEY’RE DIETING THROUGH PREGNANCY

By Helen Carroll

Margott Terblanche is part of a new breed of women who diet while carrying their baby, so that as soon as they’ve given birth, they can slip right back into their jeans.

Just five days after giving birth to her daughter Alexa, Margott's post-pregnancy tummy was toned and flat.

As usual, celebrities are leading the pack with this controversial trend, becoming poster girls for the skinny-mummy generation.

Nicole Richie sparked gasps of surprise in January when she was pictured only two weeks after giving birth to baby Harlow looking like she’d never been pregnant.

Victoria Beckham and Jordan looked similarly svelte soon after their pregnancies.

“My first thought when the two lines on my pregnancy stick appeared was: ‘Wow, I’m going to be a mum’,” says Margott, a lecturer from south London.

“My second was: ‘Oh no, I’m going to get fat’.

Fuelled by her concerns, Margott remembered her sister-in-law losing weight on the SureSlim diet, and recalled that they also ran a ‘during pregnancy’ programme.

“They drew up a plan for me, cutting out bread, potatoes, pasta, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and dried fruit,” she explains.

It worked. Margott only put on 21lb and within days of giving birth to her 7lb baby, she had lost all her pregnancy weight.

According to experts women should gain around 2st during pregnancy – any more and losing it again could be difficult.

Margott explains: “For me it was the realisation that my twin sister – who exercises and watches what she eats like I do – would stay skinny while I ballooned.

"The thought was horrifying.”

So in the end Margott, who’s 5ft 5in, went from 9st 7lb to 11st.

Pregnancy psychologist Dr Helen Pattison says: “You need more calories during pregnancy for both you and the foetus to stay healthy.”

And she says that all the dieting could be in vain: “Even if a new mother is back to her pre-pregnancy weight soon after the birth, her body shape is likely to have changed.

Stomach muscles stretch and you lay down fat for breastfeeding.

So if you expect to look like you did before, you can be disappointed and that can lead to depression.”

WeightWatchers nor Rosemary Conley allow expectant mums in their classes.

But Margott sticks by her decision to watch her weight.

“My husband, Etienne, 37, was really proud of me and the compliments boosted my self-esteem at a time when most women are feeling very unattractive,” she says.

But while Margott feels confident that this particular eating plan – with no calorie counting – was healthy for both her and baby Alexa, now 16 months, depriving yourself is another thing entirely.

Pregnant women are advised to eat 2,000 calories a day during the first six months and an extra 300 a day during the last trimester, while breastfeeding mums should aim for 2,500 calories.

* Fiona Ford, dietician at the Pregnancy and Nutrition Centre in Sheffield, says: “Research has shown that eating too few calories in pregnancy can lead to small babies – and they can be at risk of diabetes, heart disease and blood pressure in later life.”

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Credits

Photography: Giles park, Xposure, PA Hair and Make-Up: Sara Bowden SureSlim: 0870 321 4014, www.sureslimuk.com Pregnancy Nutrition Centre: www.eatingforpregnancy.co.uk