Body Image and Pregnancy: Should You Comment on A Women's Bump?

Pregnancy is a time when a woman’s body goes through many amazing changes. It is supposed to change. Yet somehow our culture, which idealises the female body, expects it remain ‘in shape’, for her bump to be a certain size or shape, or for her to gain a certain amount of weight at a certain time in her pregnancy. ⁣
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Many women struggle with body image concerns during pregnancy and in those with 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 it has been found they are⁣
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* 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨⁣
* 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺, which may have adverse effects on the health of the baby (e.g. low infant birth weight and premature delivery) and the mother ⁣
* 𝘚𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 ⁣
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External factors play a role in body image and comments on a woman’s bump can be a form of body shaming. Commenting on the size of a woman’s bump may seem harmless to you but research shows that remarks about your bump can have a negative impact on mood. ⁣
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Some women may have problems with the growth of their baby or may have been told their baby is tracking on the larger side, so they may already be anxious about the size of their bump, others may have already had their baby or may not even be pregnant at all but are struggling with infertility and really wish they were pregnant. ⁣
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At the end of the day there are not many positives to commenting on a woman’s bump, and 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭!