AN obese midwife told how a hurtful comment about her weight while working on a baby ward spurred her on to lose six stone so she would not be a ‘fat bride’ on her wedding day.

Claire Crowther, 31, of Gwersyllt, tipped the scales at nearly 14 stone when a comment made by a father on the maternity ward where she was on a trainee placement struck a chord.

Claire said her weight gain had got out of control and her fast food heavy diet saw her bursting out of her uniform.

But a remark from a total stranger during a shift made her life change course.

She dropped 10 dress sizes in time for her nuptuals to then-boyfriend Stephen and has gone on to become a fitness nut taking part in bodybuilding competitions.

Speaking to the Leader about her amazing story, Claire said: “One afternoon I was on placement on the labour ward and the husband of a patient who I was caring for made a comment about my weight. 

“He told me that I would be such a pretty girl if only I lost some weight and told me I should go on a diet.

“I was mortified and although I knew he was right the fact that a total stranger had said this to me left me feeling upset, but also determined to change myself.”

Claire, who is 5ft three inches tall, was mortified and said she cried her eyes out when she returned home, but eventually decided to do something about her situation.

“I knew I couldn’t accept being the way I was,” she said

“My long term health was in jeopardy, I was classed as morbidly obese and I was a bad role model for my daughter and I couldn’t stand the person looking back at me in the mirror.”

Claire said she deleted all pictures of her from her camera and refused to marry her then-boyfriend Stephen while still overweight.

She joined a slimming club and lost a total of four stone in 10 months, before joining the DW Fitness gym in Wrexham in September 2011 when she found her weight loss started to slow down.

“Being the kid that always had a sick note for PE and having spent my entire adult life loving life sitting on the sofa, I had always hated the idea of jumping around getting sweaty and the thought of getting out of breath filled me with dread,” she said

“But I knew I had to do something. Little did I know that I would get totally addicted!”

By August 2012 Claire had lost more than six stone and was down from a 16-18 dress size to a size six.

After her wedding to Stephen in October 2014, Claire wanted to push her fitness to greater limits and earlier this year decided to take up the Bodypower Expo’s transformation challenge, where entrants were asked to set a goal to change to transform their physiques and lifestyles.

She completely overhauled her diet and undertook an intense exercise regime.

“I work long shifts as a midwife, working days and nights as well as weekends,” she said

“This has been challenging and I have had to get up at 5am to get a workout in before a 13-hour shift or get myself to the gym for an hour session following a gruelling night shift where I haven’t had a break.

“It’s been tough but I have had to do it to reach my goals.”

Claire’s transformation impressed the judges and she was invited as one of 10 finalists to appear at the BodyPower Expo 2015 in Birmingham.

She said: “The fact Stephen and I did it together meant we could do it as a team. Losing weight is one thing – when you’re losing weight, you can be a bit more flexible and give yourself a treat every now and then.

“When you’re doing something like this, you can’t even allow yourself one little chocolate.”