The Hallelujah Report: Doctors Say No Rush to Lose Pregnancy Weight

On more than one occasion, when I would tell a friend that I was pregnant, s/he would exclaim, “Congratulations!” followed soon thereafter by a supposedly reassuring, “Don’t worry.  I’m sure you’ll lose the weight quickly!”

No pressure or anything.

And it’s no wonder people have such crazy expectations these days, what with Heidi Klum walking the freakin’ Victoria’s Secret catwalk just two months after popping out her second baby and Nicole Kidman looking like she’d never carried more than a Skittle in her flat, tiny belly.

Well, for those of us who don’t have the benefit of full-time nannies, trainers, enviable metabolisms and Skittle babies, taking up to a year to gradually lose the extra baby pounds is not only fine, but HEALTHY, according to doctors at Germany’s Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care.

According to the Institute, women are under too much pressure to lose weight quickly after giving birth — um, ya think? — when many need some of that extra weight to provide nourishment for the baby.

And celebrities who are slipping into their size-zero jeans within weeks of having a baby are — GASP! — not a true reflection of real life.

The Institute’s director Professor Peter Sawicki said: “Often, the extra effort women have to make to look after a new baby and breastfeed after giving birth means the kilos just melt away without effort.  But for about half of all women, the weight will not go away as quickly.”

So for those new mothers lamenting their muffin top, just relax, follow a sensible diet and build up slowly to a good exercise routine.  No need to do anything crazy — like give up chocolate.   Because that, my friends, is just no life at all.