Twenty-four women with children 5 years old or younger were interviewed regarding their experiences in losing weight during the postpartum period. Phenomenological interviews were conducted according to Husserl's perspective. Women who participated in the study revealed the issues related to postpartum weight loss: weight struggles, exercise, breast-feeding, eating, and pregnancy contributions to weight gain. The overall theme that resulted from these in-depth interviews was that women struggle to balance their successes and setbacks in losing weight during the postpartum period.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 men who had a significant other who had given birth within the last 5 years. Men were asked about their perceptions of pregnancy-related weight gain, and content analysis was used to identify themes from the interviews. Men described nine themes related to perinatal weight gain: (a) negative perceptions, (b) eating behaviors, (c) exercise habits, (d) health impact, (e) body changes, (f) weight-loss success, (g) "it bothered her more than me," (h) "the weight gain wasn't a problem," and (i) intimacy. Together, these themes offer a glimpse into men's experiences and highlight the discord and balance between experiencing negative feelings/perceptions and being a supportive partner. This information on how men perceive pregnancy-related weight gain can be used to develop interventions to assist men to support their significant others in meeting weight loss goals following pregnancy.