The National Child and Maternal Health Education Program, a division of the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, has updated their website to include a more robust section for pregnant people who are obese or “plus-sized.” They also have website space dedicated to health care providers who offer services to larger sized people who are pregnant or are considering becoming pregnant.

As a person who was plus-sized and pregnant some years ago, and continues to be a larger person now, I can speak personally to the difficulties and discrimination that large-sized pregnant people face. (Reality – plus sized people face discrimination in all areas of health care and other places, pregnant or not!)

We have covered this topic before on Connecting the Dots, including in our Welcoming All Families series here and here and also here.  Previously we also ran an eight part series: “Maternal Obesity from All Sides” that was very informative.

Included on the consumer side of the NCMHEP site is information on how to find a size friendly provider, referring people to Jen McLellan’s Plus Size Birth website, a treasure trove of resources for pre-pregnant and pregnant people.

For providers, there are resources and recommendations as well as current information and Practice Bulletins from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

As childbirth educators and perinatal professionals, we have a responsibility to offer resources for all the different types of people attending our classes.  Obese people of childbearing age are having babies right along with the rest of their peers and educators need to have resources and evidence based information at our fingertips in order to best serve these families.  The NCMHEP website is an excellent resource to add to your list to share when appropriate.  Do you have any other favorite resources for your students or clients who are pregnant and plus sized?

Header Photo by AllGo - An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash

Published: February 11, 2020

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