My experience with pregorexia

Maggie Baumann, MFT, an eating disorder specialist, reflects on her personal experience with pregorexia and how it drove her to spread awareness about about pregnancy eating disorders.
A Personal Experience WIth Pregorexia
KidsInTheHouse the Ultimate Parenting Resource
Kids in the House Tour

My experience with pregorexia

Comment
67
Like
67
Transcription: 
I became interested in helping women with pregorexia because I suffered from it myself with my two children in 1996 and 1987. I was a big fitness trainer and a runner, athlete. I had a lot of denial that I had pregorexia. At 11 weeks with my second child, I almost miscarried her because of excessive exercise. I just kind of denied it because I was ashamed and didn't want anyone to know. At about 7 months into the pregnancy with my second child, my doctor diagnosed my baby with intrauterine growth retardation; which is a medical term meaning that the baby is not getting enough nutrients. I continued to exercise after that because I was so in denial. My goal really is to educate women to pull this shame away from getting help, and knowing that they can get treatment while they are pregnant. Help for themselves and for their babies, so their babies don't get born with abnormalities, the baby doesn't die, or you don't die.

Maggie Baumann, MFT, an eating disorder specialist, reflects on her personal experience with pregorexia and how it drove her to spread awareness about about pregnancy eating disorders.

Transcript

Expert Bio

More from Expert

Maggie Baumann, MFT, CEDS

Certified Eating Disorder Specialist

Maggie Baumann is a marriage and family therapist in Newport Beach, California, specializing in treating eating disorders, addictions and trauma. Maggie is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS) by the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals. As a woman in recovery from anorexia, she speaks on the topic of eating disorder prevention and treatment to a wide audience. She has been a featured guest on numerous national television shows on eating disorder awareness and quoted in newspapers across the country including the New York Times as well as in national magazines including Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine. Her area of expertise within the eating disorder field is on “pregorexia”, a term describing a pregnant woman who is also struggling with an eating disorder. This is a life-threatening condition affecting the lives of both mom and her unborn baby. 

On a personal front, Maggie has been married 28 years and has two healthy grown daughters, Christine, 25 and Whitney, 24. Being a mom has been the most rewarding experience Maggie has encountered. Maggie enjoys staying active with healthy exercise and loves to be outdoors. Living one mile from the beach allows Maggie the luxury of enjoying the peace of the ocean. Photography, reading and spending time with her two kitties (who are really grown up cats) are other passions she appreciates doing in her leisure time.   

More Parenting Videos from Maggie Baumann, MFT, CEDS >
Enter your email to
download & subscribe
to our newsletter