Pregnancy is the eating disorder trigger that no one ever talks about
Julie Speers* was desperate for a distraction. She had just told her parents she was pregnant and needed to forget about her dad?s unenthusiastic reaction. The only diversion she had the energy for was binging on Netflix and licorice with her boyfriend. She plunked herself on the couch, zoned out and ate Twizzler after Twizzler.
When she realized she had mindlessly consumed the whole package, she felt a familiar anxiety rise up. She rushed to the bathroom, hunched over the ceramic bowl, emptied her stomach and felt an instant sense of relief. It wasn?t morning sickness; Speers felt she needed to undo what she had done and regain control over her body. This wasn?t the first time she had forced herself to throw up during pregnancy, and it wouldn?t be the last. Eating disorders affect about five to eight percent of pregnant women. For those with a history of these illnesses, there is a high risk of relapse during the prenatal and postpartum periods, which can lead to harmful behaviours such as restricting food, overexercising, binging and purging. All the attention on eating well during pregnancy and gaining the right amount of weight while being weighed and measured at prenatal appointments can be a trigger for women who have challenging relationships with food and their bodies. Instagram pictures of women sporting six-packs while six months pregnant and showing off tight stomachs weeks after birth don?t help matters either.
?A lot of the psychological...
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