'Don't rush to lose baby weight' is advice to mothers

By Elizabeth Heathcote  on Tuesday 23 June 2009

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New mothers have been warned that they shouldn't seek to lose weight too quickly after giving birth.

Photographs of celebrities looking ultra slim just weeks after having a baby put pressure on new mothers, said a health organisation, and warns that women need some extra weight while breastfeeding.

Neither dieting nor rushing to the gym too soon is recommended, says the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care.

Instead the German health organisation advocates eating carefully during pregnancy so women don't put on too much weight, and continuing this approach after birth.

Some women will find their figure 'snaps back' within about three months of giving birth, thanks to the extra calories needed for breastfeeding and the effort of caring for a young baby, says the Telegraph.

But half of all mothers take six months or more to lose the baby weight, and the organisation says a year is a realistic target.

'Comparing yourself to the magazine photos of movie stars in bikinis a few weeks after giving birth does not necessarily make real-life motherhood for the average woman any easier,' it says.

Heidi Klum returned to the catwalk in lingerie within weeks of giving birth.

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Tuesday 23 June 2009

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