How does binge-eating disorder (BED) affect pregnancy and childbirth? Given that the indulging in pregnancy cravings can feel like binging, and that there is vast concern about weight gain in pregnancy in general, binge-eating disorder has the look of a villain.
A presentation at the 2008 International Conference on Eating Disorders revealed some of the problems that can occur.
Dr. Cynthia Bulik, a researcher at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, presented on a study of the effects of binge-eating disorder and other eating disorders on pregnancy and childbirth. It was a unique study in part because of the amount of data collected. A whopping 36,000 new mothers from all over Norway participated in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Once the data was collected, Dr. Bulik and company pounced to get some answers.
The researchers reasoned that since binge-eating disorder is associated with obesity, it would also lead to risk for higher gestational weight gain, higher birth weight, and infants considered large for their gestational age (LGA).
Binge-Eating Disorder's Possible Effects on Pregnancy and Childbirth
Over 1,800 of the 36,000 mothers involved met the criteria for binge-eating disorder. Significant results:- Pre-pregnancy body mass index: Though the difference wasn't huge, BED correlated with a higher BMI before pregnancy.
- Gestational weight gain: Women with BED did gain slightly more weight during pregnancy than those without an eating disorder.
- Size for gestational age: Babies of mothers with BED were 20 to 30% more likely to be larger than expected for their time of birth.
- Rate of Cesarean section: C-sections were roughly 20% more likely for mothers with BED.
- Likelihood of epidural: Natural childbirth choosers, take note. Those with BED were 10% more likely to make use of an epidural. This data includes all mothers, not just the ones who planned to avoid epidurals.
One other statistic that was troubling: 14% of mothers with BED smoked during pregnancy, versus 9.2% of those with no eating disorder.
BED and Pregnancy: What Does the Data Mean?
Dr. Bulik interprets the data to indicate that BED does influence birth outcomes, possibly through some combination of higher pre-pregnancy BMI and higher gestational weight gain. However, BED may create these effects on childbirth through some unknown mechanism.Limitations of the study included the following:
- Participants were more likely to be educated than the general Norwegian population
- While over 36,000 of the mothers in the available data participated, this was only 42% of the total (nearly 100,000).
- No data existed to describe the severity of eating disorders reported. It's not clear if this population had a normal distribution of eating disorders, or if these mothers' symptoms tended to be more or less severe.
Source:
Bulik CM, Von Holle a, Siega-Riz AM, Lie KK, Hamer RM, Torgersen L, Berg CK, Sullivan PF, Reichborn-Kjennerud T. "Birth Outcomes in Women With Eating Disorders in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)." Oral presentation. International Conference on Eating Disorders, May 15, 2008.
