Britain's Daily Mail reports the story of attractive 21-year-old Holly Griffiths, who is due to give birth soon to her second child. It's a very high-risk pregnancy because Griffiths has battled anorexia since she was just 8 years old.
Griffiths knows eating for two when not feeding one adequately can take a dangerous toll on her child but she says the voices in her head that tell her she's fat make it difficult to eat as she knows she should. In actually, Griffiths is eight months pregnant, 5'7" tall, and weighs 113 pounds. She wants to gain three more pounds before labor is induced in three weeks.
Morning sickness was a problem in the beginning but made it easy for Griffiths to stick to a diet of 800 to 1,200 calories a day, which she maintains today. The medical recommendation for pregnant women is 2,000 calories a day.
Griffiths' son, Dylan, 2, who weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces at birth, survived his mother's anorexia with no ill effects and 4-D scans of the child Griffiths' carries now indicate a healthy baby girl who will be named Isla. Griffiths' pregnancy is being very closely monitored by physicians who specialize in high-risk maternity care.
When she was 8, fear of looking fat in ballet leotards triggered Griffiths' struggle with anorexia nervosa, which led to psychiatric hospitalization at age 12. Just recently, Griffith's weight dropped to an alarming 98 pounds.
Anorexia alone is dangerous, but during pregnancy, it can lead to miscarriage, preterm birth, C-section delivery, babies with low birth weight, and it increases the likelihood of postpartum depression. Once the baby is born, s/he will undoubtedly be influenced by mom's eating disorder. The psychological distress associated with anorexia nervosa can traumatize a child and trigger an unhealthy attitude toward food for the child.
It's for these reasons Griffiths is determined to overcome the hold of anorexia in her life. She does not want her children to mimic her eating habits and develop the condition themselves.
