baby size and mothers diet

[nelliesbelly]

I have heard someone (backyard expert!) say that if mum overeats the baby is big.

My baby is big and I certainly didnt over-eat (well in the last week ive had a big appetite), and I dont have GD.

Is there actually any scientific evidence to prove this?

[visitor1]

My diet was shocking in the first half of last pg, slowly got alot better towards the end. I never really over ate but would 'graze' all day like a cow. DD was 3.385kg which isnt big.

So i dunno how true this is

[AnyDream]

I know the opposite is true. I knew a woman who indulged in bulimic binge/purging during PG (along with smoking heavily throughout) and her son was born with a large head and little scrawny barely there body.

[Antheia]

I don't think it is. i mean i ate like crap during my first pregnancy and DD was 9lb 5oz but i ate really well in DS's pregnancy and hardly gained anything and he was still 9lb 0.5oz, so pretty much the same as DD, since she was born late and he was born a bit early.

[Yael]

I also heard that if the mother is malnourished or doesn't eat well, the baby has a high chance of being small and with other problems, but if they mother eat heaps it has no bearing on the baby's size, and just the mother has a lot of extra weight to lose.

[sajemsha]

Well, I've had three very big babies and the doctor said what I eat while pregnant has no bearing, It's to do with your jeans and family history more than anything, GD can make babies and mum's big though, well, my husband was nearly 10 pounds and my mum's biggest was 11 pounds, all my babies we're well over 10 pounds, I'd have a look into your family history, could be interesting....

[Alan]

Overeating will not make your baby big. Undereating will probably make your baby small

[MummaBear79]

I heard that its got to do the carbohydrates. The more you eat in the last trimester, the bigger your baby?? Some women I know have gone on the carb free diet and had signficantly smaller babies than their previous ones. Who knows??