The NHS warns against using GLP-1s while breastfeeding – for the baby’s sake as well as the mother’s. But how much does that count when they’re so readily available and there’s so much pressure to ‘bounce back’?
L
ydia* first started thinking about weight-loss drugs during pregnancy. “Everyone was talking about them and the advertisements were everywhere,” she says, as her baby son naps upstairs. “I remember thinking: ‘That’s how I’ll lose weight for my wedding next year.’”
When Lydia explains that most of her life before pregnancy was spent in a welter of yo-yo dieting and body dissatisfaction, I say to her that I think most of us can relate. Her pregnancy, however, brought a level of body acceptance and contentment that the 33-year-old from Wales had never had before.
But as her due date approached, a familiar feeling of dread emerged. In her antenatal class WhatsApp group – once a space where pictures of their growing bumps and tips on how to get labour started were shared – babies started arriving and so did conversations about feeding. Suddenly, diet and weight loss entered the chat. Out of the group of six mums, three decided not to breastfeed or gave up early to either crash diet or go on weight-loss jabs – both of which are advised against during breastfeeding due to their impact on both milk quality and supply. Lydia was committed to breastfeeding, though, so tried not to let it faze her – and was relieved when, despite her son being very poorly when he was born and ending up in the neonatal intensive care unit, they were able to do it.
