healthmedicinet

• Jess Astill, 22, weighed just 5st 1lb when she learned she was pregnant
• She was 19 and had been anorexic for more than ten years
• Discovering she was pregnant gave her the motivation to recover as doctors said she would miscarry unless she beat her eating disorder
  
• She started eating a high-calorie diet and baby Cassandra was born weighing a healthy 6lbs 10oz
• Experts say her age was the main reason she was able to conceive, despite being so dangerously underweight
  

By
Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED:

05:33 EST, 25 February 2014

|
UPDATED:

07:09 EST, 25 February 2014

A woman who had been anorexic for more than a decade says her life was saved when she miraculously managed to become pregnant.

Jess Astill, 22, discovered she was expecting after she was sent to hospital by doctors who were concerned her eating disorder was out of control.

At the time she weighed just 5st 1lb.

Jess Astill, 22, became pregnant with Cassandra, two, despite being anorexic and weighing just 5st 1lb

The sudden shock of discovering she was pregnant gave her the determination to beat anorexia for good.

Miss Astill, of Torquay, Devon, said: ‘My first thought was, “what have I done?” I was heartbroken to think I had been harming not only myself, but also my baby.

‘From the very first second I realised I was pregnant, I started caring for my daughter with my whole heart.’

While she was pregnant, doctors told Miss Astill that a miscarriage was inevitable unless she beat her eating disorder.

But today Cassandra, her daughter with her partner Alan Foster, 32, a plasterer, is a happy, healthy two-year-old.

Miss Astill suffered with anorexia from childhood. 

When she was just nine years old she was
admitted to hospital for three months because she had stopped eating
and her weight had dropped dangerously low.

Miss Astill only discovered she was pregnant when she was admitted to hospital because her anorexia was out of control and her health was fading. She was told a miscarriage was inevitable unless she started eating

Miss Astill says learning she was pregnant gave her the motivation to recover as she was heartbroken at the thought she could have harmed her unborn baby

She said: ‘My mum struggled with anorexia and, observing her, I thought it was a grown-up thing to do to find excuses not to eat.

‘We didn’t eat regular meals at home. Even though my parents were worried about me and it was a challenge, I found ways to stop eating.

HOW DID SHE MANAGE TO CONCEIVE DESPITE BEING ANOREXIC?

Melanie Brown, a nutritionist at the Harley Street Fertility Clinic, told MailOnline that between their teens and mid-20s, women are often very fertile.

This is likely to explain how Miss Astill managed to conceive, despite her anorexia.

She explained that an older woman would be very unlikely to conceive if she was so underweight.

This is because the female sex hormone oestrogen is produced in fatty tissue – so a low body weight means the hormone is not able to work properly.

She says that even if an underweight woman does conceive, it is unlikely she will have enough hormones to sustain a pregnancy.

Oestrogen drives the menstrual cycle and is important in ovulation so having too little means conception is unlikely.

It also causes the womb lining to thicken so women who have low oestrogen levels may conceive but may not be able to sustain a pregnancy as their womb lining could be too thin.

Ms Brown said: ‘Young girls are very fertile but it is unusual for someone very underweight to conceive.

‘Being underweight is also a big risk factor for pregnancy and it would certainly not be recommended.’

Many people also stop menstruating if they lose weight.

Ms Brown explained: ‘You have to lay down fat to sustain a pregnancy – for both the hormones to continue the pregnancy and also as nutrition to nourish the baby.

‘That is why you tend to stop menstruating if you are underweight as your body doesn’t have the nutrition to sustain a baby – it’s probably an evolutionary thing.

‘Some underweight people still have periods but are not ovulating or do not have enough hormones to sustain a pregnancy. Just having periods isn’t necessarily enough.’

The nutritionist explained that even
if a pregnancy is successful, an underweight mother is likely to have a
baby with a low birth weight and this is a risk factor for
cardiovascular problems in old age.

She
added that being pregnant while on a restricted diet can also pose a
risk to the mother as it can put her at greater risk of conditions such
as osteoporosis.

‘Being in the hospital was horrible. There were no other children my age there and I felt completely alone.

‘As I got older, my friends started spending time together out of school. But the eating disorder – for which I was having fortnightly check-up appointments with my doctor – held me back. I didn’t have any confidence.

‘I wanted to be normal, but I didn’t know how.’

Miss Astill met Mr Foster when she was 17 and the joy of being in a loving relationship for the first time seemed to offer a way out of the cycle.

She said: ‘I was able to start a new
life. As I started eating, I got more energy and confidence. I’d always
felt like the odd one out but for the first time in my life, I felt as
if I fitted in.’

But having reached a stable weight of 7st 4lb, Miss Astill’s world was shattered when her parents divorced in 2011.

She said: ‘Mum moved away with my little brother and we didn’t have regular contact for a couple of years.

‘I’d
been able to talk to her about my struggles with eating because she’d
suffered with similar problems but now I was with my dad and I didn’t
feel as if he understood me.

‘I
started avoiding meals again. Alan noticed I was off my food but I
relied on the old tricks I’d learned when I was a child to relapse into
anorexia.

‘I made any
excuse not to sit with him at mealtimes – I would take my dinner plate
into the kitchen and hide it away in there. Sometimes I snuck food away
under the dinner table.

‘We often ate meals in front of the
TV, so it was relatively easy to go back into the bad habits because not
all the attention was on me.’

Over
several months, Miss Astill’s weight fell to just 5st 1lb, prompting
concerned doctors to arrange for her admission to hospital, where she
was put on a drip.

She
said: ‘I began vomiting shortly before I went into hospital. It was
strange because when I’d stopped eating before I hadn’t been so unwell.
This time I just wasn’t getting any better.

‘I was worried. I knew I was in a bad way. The doctors put me on a drip because they were worried about my fading health.

‘They
did test after test, but each one returned negative results. The only
test left was a pregnancy test, but I knew I wasn’t pregnant. I’d always
had light, irregular periods and I’d been told that my eating problems
meant it was very unlikely I could conceive.

‘So when I discovered I was pregnant, I was stunned. I was crying and hysterical.

‘I couldn’t get over the idea that I
was damaging my daughter. I thought that she wouldn’t choose to be ill –
if she arrived unwell then it would be my fault.’

Miss Astill, then 19, forced herself
to undergo a weight-gaining diet of calorie-rich compound milkshakes and
was challenged to gain 4lb a week until her unborn child was out of
danger.

She said: ‘The doctor increased the amount of nutrition I was getting through the drip too.

As soon as she found out that she was expecting Miss Astill adopted a high-calorie diet and Cassandra was born a healthy 6lbs 10oz. She is pictured with her father, Alan Foster, 32

Miss Astill’s battle with her eating disorder has left her with a concave stomach

‘My
body had to cope with a sudden increase in calorie intake. I felt sick
constantly because my stomach was full. But by sitting still as
possible, I managed to avoid throwing up.’

In July 2011 Miss Astill and Mr Foster were overjoyed when Cassandra was born weighing 6lb 10oz.
Miss Astill’s weight is now stable at 7st 9lbs.

She
said: ‘When I was growing up, I was affected by eating disorders within
my own family, and I don’t want my daughter to have the same
experience, so I’m determined to stay healthy.

Write caption here

‘When I see Cassandra toddling around, I still have to pinch myself that I’m so lucky.’

Melanie Brown, a nutritionist at the Harley Street Fertility Clinic, explained to MailOnline that Miss Astill probably managed to conceive because of her age.

She said that young women are very fertile and that it is very unlikely an older woman would have managed to become pregnant while so underweight.

• If you are worried that you, or anyone you know, might have an eating disorder visit www.b-eat.co.uk

or comment on this article

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Comments (19)

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The comments below have been moderated in advance.

NLSutton,

Staffordshire, United Kingdom,

22 minutes ago

What an amazing mother, good on you for doing what’s right for your baby and she is a right beautiful little girl I hope you all have an amazing future!

mounty,

Hants,

23 minutes ago

Some women would not have worked so hard to overcome their demons for a child. I have admiration for someone who makes the conscious decision to walk another path. Hope you stay well Jess.

chunky,

Cheshire, United Kingdom,

26 minutes ago

Having children changes your life in such a beautiful (and sometimes frustrating) way! I am so glad they are both healthy

Chloe Jane,

Glasgow, Scotland,

29 minutes ago

an eating disorder since she was nine? that poor girl! so glad everything is working out well for her now with her little girl, she and her little girl both deserve to be happy! very strong lady.

Hibiscus,

The Beautiful South, France,

35 minutes ago

So glad you were able to turn your life around. Best of luck in the future.

SB,

Somerset,

36 minutes ago

I hope she can find a way to beat this using herself as the motivation at some point in the future. External motivating factors often don’t last, it has to come from the inside. Wish her all the best.

Newusername2267,

Hampshire, United Kingdom,

40 minutes ago

It’s unlikely, but possible that an older anorexic woman can conceive. When I was a midwife, there was a woman aged about 40 who had just had a baby. She didn’t know she was pregnant for months so it came as a real shock to her. Her husband was delighted, but we still couldn’t persuade the woman to eat very much. Hopefully, all went well with her and her child.

jackie,

Exeter, United Kingdom,

44 minutes ago

Good luck to the whole family. Stay well and one day see that gorgeous little girl grow into a beautiful woman, it will make you so proud. This is a terrible disorder, hope you beat it for good.

Lexie,

Liverpool,

58 minutes ago

Congratulations. Just keep on doing what you’re doing and make sure your little girl doesn’t end up with anorexia like you did. Shame your mam couldn’t have protected you from it a little better.

Sarah,

The Beautiful North,

1 hour ago

So happy for Jess. The same thing happened to me. I miraculously became pregnant with my eldest son while anorexic. Since then, I never looked back. I was so determined to do the right thing by him that I ate sensibly and after he was born, my anorexia had disappeared completely… In fact I went on to have another four children!

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