Want to be a mum? Then ditch the tum

LOSING just a few pounds can help overweight women conceive naturally, according to research.

Shedding 9lb 7oz on average over six months was found to double the chances of becoming pregnant for heavier women with fertility problems.

The findings could prove beneficial for the nearly six in ten British women who are categorised as either overweight or obese.

The study, presented at a meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Helsinki, followed 577 prospective mothers in these weight bands who also had fertility issues.

At the start of the research, they had a body mass index between 29 (classed as overweight) and 5 (very obese). Half were advised how to lose weight through diet and exercise with the goal of shed- ding 5 per cent of their weight. The others had no such intervention. One in four of the group who shed pounds then went on to become pregnant, compared to one in eight of those who did not follow the health scheme.

Dr Anne Van Oers from the University Medical Centre Groningen in the Netherlands – who carried out the study – said the effect was greatest among women whose periods were occasional or had stopped. She said: ‘Our finding that lifestyle intervention in obese women more often leads to natural conception should be used in their counselling before fertility treatment.’

Dr Adam Balen, chairman of the British Fertility Society, added that obesity can have ‘major ramifications’ for reproductive health.