Finding Balance: Women's Successes, Struggles, and Setbacks with Postpartum Weight Loss
- Describe two positive factors identified by women in this research that contribute to weight loss in the postpartum period.
- Identify two factors that hinder women's weight loss efforts during the postpartum period.
- Describe two areas in which health professionals can target interventions to help women manage their postpartum weight loss.
Objective: This study was designed to examine women’s experiences of weight loss during the postpartum period. Understanding women’s positive and negative experiences can assist health care providers to successfully intervene in helping women lose weight following pregnancy and avoid long-term weight gain and obesity development.
Design: Phenomenology, according to Husserl’s perspective
Setting: Private location of the women’s choosing.
Patients/Participants: Twenty-six women, who ranged in age from 25-35 years, and had given birth within the last five years, were interviewed regarding their experiences with postpartum weight loss. The majority of the sample was Caucasian.
Methods: Interviews were transcribed verbatim and themes were identified from each of the interviews. Comparisons were made between interviews to identify common experiences between women. Data were analyzed according to the Giorgi method.
Results: The women in the study had a wide range of experiences. The overarching theme that represents these women’s experience was the need to balance weight loss activity with other responsibilities, as they pursued their return to prepregnancy weight. Themes that emerged from the interviews can be categorized as women’s challenges with return to prepregnancy weight and balancing success with acceptance of body changes following pregnancy. The individual themes that were categorized as women’s challenges included: (1) time and motivation issues; (2) the need for support; (3) weight and other struggles; (4) varied contributions of exercise, breastfeeding, eating among women, and (5) pregnancy contributions to weight gain. Realizing benefits (theme 6), the wonders of social support (theme 7), wow that was quick! (theme 8), and comfort in self (theme 9) were categorized as women balancing success and acceptance.
Conclusion/Implications for nursing practice: Women experience a variety of challenges and successes with postpartum weight loss. Interventions to assist women with weight loss following pregnancy should target these challenges and support their successes.
Keywords: pregnancy weight gain, postpartum weight loss, postpartum support, postpartum challenges
