[jkfla]

They have recently published a study aiming one of the causes of children being born with Congenital Heart Disease at overweight and obese moms. I can't agree or disagree with this study as ANYONE for ANY REASON can have a child with CHD. They don't have any solid answers for this so I really feel they may be just looking for something to connect it to.

What I do know for fact is that I have a child with Congenital Heart Disease and have met two other ladies on this board recently who also have children with CHD. Gina and Jen (Monkeybabies and Kncmamma), along with myself have sons who have Congenital Heart Disease. With their permission I am posting this to find out if there are any more people on the boards who have children, grandchildren, etc with CHD or know anyone with it. Since it is estimated that 1 in 100-150 babies are born with it each year and this is, after all, a board where people with weight problems come for support I would be very interested, as would Gina and Jen I'm sure, to connect with other people on this issue.

http://www.congenitalheartdefects.com/

This link will take you to a site that has statistics on CHD and information about all the different defects.

Please don't think that I am in any way implying that all overweight people are going to have heart babies and that's the only reason why. My son's is genetic and Jen's son's came with Down Syndrome. I just think this would be a great way to find more CHD connections and maybe get more opinions on the issue.

[Step]

Personally I don't know anybody in the situation you described. Several overweight Moms in my family ... no heart issues (even among the adults).

And looking back further, a close friend of mine died suddenly at 25 and his autopsy revealed an what MAY have been an undiagnosed congenital heart defect and what definitely was a series of heart attacks (and looking back, we all realized that all those times he complained of a "stomach ache" it was probably heart related.) His mom was not overweight.

Another kid I grew up with had heart defects. His Mom was thin as a rail, and had her own heart issues ... I'd be interested in learning more.

[Monkeybabies]

Add me to the list This is one list that I am very, very sad to be on My oldest son Cameron, the three year old...the older boy in my avatar...was born in congestive heart failure...and had emergent heart surgery hours after birth. He has Aortic Stenosis which is the narrowing of his Aortic Valve. So...as soon as he took his first breath...it was almost his last!!!!
As seen in my previous posts...this is and has been an area of guilt for me as I read the many many studies that do show a "HIGHER RISK" of overwieght and obese women tp have an onfant born with a congenital heart defect. EKKKKKKSSS..that is me!

The general public has 1 in 100 chance to have a baby born with some sort of congenital heart defect. That is very common!!!! Heart defects in the number one birth defect!!!! So...I am sure there is well over 100 women on this board....and already me, Shelly, and KCmom all have kids with congenital heart defects. Very, very, very interesting!!!!

It has been a rough weekk for me...as yesterday I read an article suggesting that "obesity" in pregnancy also suggests that babies may be born with a higher risk of breathing problems...and my youngest just got diagnosed with Severe asthma!!! Wow....double whammy of guilt, eh? It is bad enough that GUILT is part of being a parent anyway, never mind adding to the ever growing pot of Guilt with the diagnoses of my kiddos. Man, so glad to see this week from **** behind me!!!!!!!

[Sheila53]

Well, my granddaughter has congential heart defects (ASD, PDA, VSD), but it results from her Trisomy 18 diagnosis. Her mother is a petite size 2 or 4.

Please try not to feel guilty, Gina. I know that's like asking the rain not to fall, but don't dwell on what you read. Stuff happens no matter what. I have a rare neuro disorder that turns out I could pass on to my children. I certainly wouldn't have had children if I had known this, but it's there and we'll deal with it.

[Jen]

I don't buy into a lot of this stuff that studies are showing about connecting obesity during pregnancy and chronic conditions in childhood. The problem is that a lot of the time the reports that come out in magazines, newspapers and on tv are not based on long term research. They are based on only a few years and a small population study. I can't buy into anything that is so poorly documented. Also the media condense scientific reports into language that the average person can understand which may not accurately reflect the actual study. Look at the studies that were supposedly done on vaccinations and autism. People all over the world were refusing vaccinations based on reports of a small study done in England. As a result there have been epidemics in the US and Russia, I think of whooping cough mostly. I'm not going to comment on whether it is right or wrong but I think people jumped to a lot of conclusions based on a small, short term study. I would like to see a study on the numbers of obese women who gave birth to perfectly healthy babies who never developed so much as a hang nail over their entire life. I'll bet the numbers would be astronomical. But that doesn't sell, the medical community doesn't want to see that. They want people who are obese to feel guilty and bad and saying that you are responsible for chronic medical conditions in your children does just that. You can't blame yourself for crap like this, you do the best you can do and that is that.

[Monkeybabies]

Well said Jen...thanks!

[KnCmamma]

Jen you are so right in everything you said.

I myself was obese(still am) when I had both my kids and my first born(my daughter) is as healthy as you can get, and my second born(my son) was born with Down Syndrome, a congenital heart defect(AVSD same as AV Canal), and is fed with a feeding tube, and wears glasses. I don't blame myself for any of this. And let me tell you, having my son has really taught me to have a totally different outlook on life and people.