Slimming World
The weight management organisation, with more than 19,000 UK groups meeting weekly, is working in partnership with the RCM to raise awareness in supporting pregnant women and breastfeeding mums in managing their weight.
Slimming World is the only national weight management organisation that supports pregnant and breastfeeding women and, with the support and ongoing involvement of their midwife or GP, actively works with women to address weight issues.
“We don’t encourage weight loss or ‘dieting’ during pregnancy – instead we support women to adopt a balanced, healthy diet to prevent excess weight gain; we also help mums to manage their weight healthily following the birth of their child, while breast-feeding,” said Caryl Richards, Slimming World’s CEO.
“Joining the RCM Alliance is a tremendous opportunity to ensure pregnant women get the right information and advice, during and after pregnancy and that midwives continue to be supported in the outstanding work they do.”
Visit slimmingworld.co.uk/health for more information.
Here’s an overview of resources/projects developed through the Alliance to date:
The Slimming World and RCM website
Together Slimming World and the RCM have created a website to help women successfully manage their weight before, during and after one of the most exciting events in their lives.
The website contains helpful advice for women who are trying for a baby, as well as mothers who are already pregnant or have a newborn.
The website contains information about eating well, staying active, living a healthier lifestyle and managing weight.
To access the website, visit www.slimmingworld.co.uk/mums/
Website cards for mums
Midwives can order Slimming World cards (pictured right) to give to mothers who are interested in finding out more about Slimming World.
To order the cards, complete your details here.
Combined Due Date & BMI Calculator
We’ve developed this two-sided ‘BMI and gestational weeks calculator’ providing a handy tool for midwives so you can calculate a woman’s due date and Body Mass Index using the same tool (pictured right).
The wheel uses sensitive and pregnancy-specific wording relating to weight management in pregnancy, to help you to have supportive conversations with mums-to-be.
Supporting a Healthy Lifestyle
Slimming World is delighted to support the RCM’s Caring for You Campaign by developing resources on healthy eating and staying active. These include top tips and ideas for healthy eating, including a curry recipe.
For ideas about healthy food to take to work, see articles on preparing healthy food for work and on healthy and filling microwaveable meals in minutes.
Slimming World has developed information about keeping healthy and active during the menopause, which includes a recipe rich in phyto-oestrogens and on ways to improve sleep quality and manage changing sleep patterns to support a healthier lifestyle. The most recent article provides lots of useful information on alcohol and health.
i-learn module, Obesity – supporting women
Slimming World has worked with the RCM to develop an online course to help midwives and midwifery support workers to support pregnant women with weight management. The module, which takes approximately 1.5 hours to complete, includes information, practical tips and audio examples to enhance the learning experience. RCM members can click here to access the course.
Discussing Weight During Pregnancy booklet
Supporting women to manage their weight during pregnancy can have huge benefits for both mother and baby, but discussing a woman’s weight can sometimes be difficult. The Discussing weight during pregnancy booklet, created through the partnership between Slimming World and the RCM, is designed to help you discuss a woman’s weight and possible weight-related risks during her pregnancy.It contains a chart which can be used to show pregnant women what their weight at booking means in terms of weight-related risks during pregnancy. The wording next to the chart has been carefully written to provide pointers for discussion and is specifically designed to help you discuss the issues with tact and sensitivity in a non-judgemental way. We hope this is useful to your clinical practice. Printed copies of the resource can be requested at public.health@slimming-world.com.
Following feedback from some midwives working with women whose BMI lies outside the existing chart, we have created an extended version of the chart.
Discussing Weight During Pregnancy
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