Nutrition researchers at the University of California, Davis, need new moms to participate in a research study aimed at finding out why some women have trouble losing the extra weight they gained during pregnancy. "An almost universal concern among new mothers is when, if ever, they will return to their pre-pregnancy weight and shape," said Laurie Rivers, a researcher in the nutrition department. "By studying the lifestyle, dietary patterns and infant feeding practices of new moms, we hope to better understand why some women have no trouble at all losing the weight they gained during pregnancy, while others continue to retain a lot of the added weight." A national health survey found that, on average, women were 3.4 pounds heavier one year after giving birth than they were before their pregnancy, Rivers noted. This same survey found that 25 percent of the white women surveyed and 40 percent of the African-American women retained at least 9 extra pounds following pregnancy. Rivers and colleagues in the laboratory of nutrition professor Kathryn Dewey need women, whose babies are less than 1 month old and are at least partially breast-fed, to participate in the study. The volunteers will come to UC Davis for interviews and measurements of their weight and percent body fat when their babies are 1, 3, 6 and 12 months old. Additional information will be collected between visits by phone. While all breast-feeding mothers of new babies are welcome to participate in the study, the researchers are especially interested in enrolling Hispanic and Asian women because relatively little scientific information is available on the postpartum weight change in women of these ethnic groups. Participating women must have a phone in the home and transportation for their visits to UC Davis. All women who participate in the study for a full 12 months will receive $100. This is just one of many nutritional studies related to the health of mothers and babies being conducted in the UC Davis Department of Nutrition. Anyone interested in participating in this or other studies should call (916) 754-9711.