Pregnancy in restricter-type anorexia nervosa: A study of six women

✍ Scribed by Namir, Sheila ;Melman, Kenneth N. ;Yager, Joel

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 476 KB
• Volume: 5
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/1098-108x(198607)5:5<837::aid-eat2260050505>3.0.co;2-y

✦ Synopsis

Six restricter type women with anorexia nervosa were interviewed regarding their pregnancies and four of the women were interviewed again three to four months following the birth of their children. Although these women were able to nutritionally sustain their fetuses during pregnancy, and there was a mitigation of their anorectic behaviors during pregnancy, all returned to their pre-pregnancy anorectic thinking and behaviors following the births. The effects of the pregnancies on various aspects of their lives are reported, including marital relationships, body images, mood states, and cognitions. The early postpartum period is also described.

Relatively little has been written about pregnancy in anorexia nervosa (AN). The occurrence of pregnancy during AN is unusual due to the infertility that occurs with starvation and to the fact that marriage and sexual activity are relatively uncommon in AN. Up to 85% of restricter AN patients are single and an even greater percentage do not engage in regular sexual activity (Garfinkel & Garner, 1982). We conducted a prospective study of a small series of pregnant women with restricter type of AN to learn more about the clinical course of AN during preg-