Many new moms struggle with the many changes to their body in the postpartum period. Among those changes, some have trouble dealing with losing their pregnancy weight again after the birth of baby. It’s important to remember that it takes time to lose that weight and to be gentle with your body in the postpartum period. But it’s important for moms who are looking for information on weight loss to get appropriate information specifically geared to the postpartum period.

The Center for Obesity Research at Temple University found that African-American moms in particular were having trouble finding weight loss programs addressing their needs, so they created a pilot program using text messaging and social media along with phone calls from a health coach. “It’s difficult for African American mothers to find weight loss programs geared toward their needs,” said Sharon J. Herring, MED ’02, lead investigator and associate professor of medicine. “Relatively few weight loss studies have included ethnic minority women, and those that have— even when ‘gold standard’ approaches are used—report less intervention engagement, higher attrition rates and poorer postpartum weight loss outcomes among their African American participants.”

Read more about this successful pilot program here.