Maggie Baumann never expected to get such instant and visceral reactions to her story. Posting on the Web blog Momlogic, she told her story of struggling with eating disorders while she was pregnant. Readers called her everything from selfish to criminal.

A July 16 article by Courtney Perkes of the Orange County Register provided the following details about Baumann's ordeal:

More than 20 years have passed since Baumann, who lives in Laguna Niguel, struggled with anorexia while pregnant. She's now a therapist who specializes in treating the shame and secrecy of eating disorders. But going public with her "pregorexia" in the instant vitriol blogosphere brought back painful emotions of how she harmed her baby and how she punished herself.

"I never imagined the depth of hatred I would receive," Baumann said. "My whole body was just numb reading these things. Then I started to understand where these people were coming from.

"Our readers had a very strong, visceral reaction to her post," Gillian Sheldon, managing editor of Momlogic, told Perkes via e-mail. "Many moms were outraged that her addiction put both her children physically in jeopardy  and made that opinion known. Other moms, however, related and applauded her work and ability to conquer her anorexia."

Anorexia among pregnant women, or pregorexia, is a very real and very serious condition that threatens the health of both mother and child.

Labels: anorexia, pregnancy, pregorexia

Posted By: Aspen/CRC