The Skinny on Weight While Trying to Conceive

Conception for the Underweight

By Shel Franco

After struggling with skipped meals, bouts of depression and prenatal visits that included emotionally painful weigh-ins, Saunders delivered a full term, healthy baby girl. "A new baby, as lovely as she was and still is, didn't solve my problems and certainly didn't give me the motivation I needed to recover," she says.

If recovery from an eating disorder is something you have been working on for years and you now feel emotionally ready to undertake pregnancy, Saunders reminds you that your fertility may have been affected by the years of nutritional abuse.

"Achieving a weight that is close to the ideal body weight will improve the chances of conception," says Dr. Chasen. "It would be preferable to gain weight, as this will result in a resumption of ovulatory function in many women as well as avoid certain complications of pregnancy."

If you have already achieved your ideal weight, and you are still unable to conceive, don't despair. "Medications to induce ovulation can also improve the chances of conception in women with weight disorders who are not ovulatory," Dr. Chasen says.

Brianna Lowe became a mother, and she took the opportunity to rehash her life. "The thing is, knowing what I know now, I bet I could have conceived a lot sooner and without drugs if I hadn't been running so much."

Achieving a healthy weight may just help you conceive. More importantly, once you become pregnant, it helps give your pregnancy a great start.

Want to see more?

• The Embarrassing Truth: Conception Facts You Need to Know But Are Too Afraid to Ask
• Healthy Eating During Preconception
• What You Should Know Before You Conceive
• Talk about it!