08 January 2011

Interesting study - Cankles and baby weight loss

During my pregnancy, I was very active. I put on minimal weight and did not suffer from fluid retention. After Layla was born, I was shocked to find that I had developed cankles, swollen feet and legs and obvious fluid retention. Layla was not a big baby but in reflection, was quite puffy after her birth. She also took a number of weeks to regain her birth weight, longer than the Community Health Nurse thought was acceptable. Both the fluid rentention and the loss of birth weight were two issues that still perplexed me some 8 months on. That was until today!
Baby Layla - 1 day old
I read an article published in the academic journal 'Pediatrics' that attributes fluid rentention in mothers after birth and loss of weight in babies to excess fluids being given during labour. The IV fluids can cause babies to take on additional fluids which are then lost after birth giving the appearance of significant weight loss. More info can be found here....

What did your cankles have to do with your baby's weight loss? Source: http://www.breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com/
Did you have 'cankles' after you had your baby? Could you make dents in your waterlogged feet? And did your baby have higher than normal weight loss in the first few days postpartum? If so, you may be interested in this.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-2663v1?papetoc 

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