Does my baby bump look big in this?! Nurturing a positive body image during pregnancy and post-partum

It’s difficult for the average woman to have the perfect body image, throw in a belly the size of a bowling ball, thick heavy ‘cankles’ and a body that just doesn’t want to get out of bed in the morning – and you’ve more than likely got a very body conscious mother-to-be.

We’ve all flipped through the weekly gossip magazines while waiting in the supermarket checkout queue and stumbled upon the mandatory articles on celebrity mothers ‘dropping’ all of their baby weight six weeks after giving birth.

On the contrary, if I’d been photographed a couple of weeks after giving birth the magazine spread would have been filled with insights into healing cracked nipples, sleep deprivation and the lagging effects of a nasty C-section infection – hardly a front page cover story for ‘New Idea’!

For some mums-to-be, finding maternity wear that doesn’t make you look like a circus tent and embracing the unavoidable possibility of not seeing your own feet for the final months of pregnancy can be tough to handle – let alone throwing an eating problem or body issue into the mix as well.

While pregnant with my first child, I embarked on the pregnancy journey vowing to have ‘thick skin’ and ignore all the supposedly well-meaning comments from all and sundry. Fast forward a few months when my belly had started to grow and I realized my mistake – it would take a pregnant lady with a will of steel to not have moments of doubt and worry about the rapidly changing belly and body that is nurturing your bundle of joy.

Body image and its impact on a mother’s body during pregnancy and after birth is an area rarely discussed in an aim apparently avoid upsetting mothers-to-be and new parents. After setting out to explore the causes and expel the negative body image curse so many women experience, I stumbled upon some great suggestions to embrace body image during pregnancy.

Making healthy choices and focusing on positive body image isn’t always easy particularly when mothers are getting used to the demands of pregnancy or a newborn baby. Suggestions from the Better Health Victoria website for improving body image during this time include:

• Reflect on your experiences and try to unravel the development of your body image from childhood

• Talk about feelings and experiences with other women who have similar concerns

• Make a pact with yourself to treat your body with respect – give your body enough food and rest

• Give yourself a break from women’s magazines and the mass media for a while

• Try some form of physical activity purely for the fun of it, not as a means of weight loss

• Stop weighing yourself

• Change your goal from weight loss to improving your health

• Get informed by reading up on body image issues

It’s not just a women’s body that goes through change during pregnancy and after giving birth, psychological mothers experience emotional ups and downs that can at times seem overwhelming.

Many a tear was shed during my pregnancy over a range of issues I could usually take in my stride pre-pregnancy. Seemingly well-meant comments from strangers such as “oh, you look healthy” and “aren’t you blossoming” suddenly hit a raw nerve – a poor body image heightened my emotions and made me pick apart every comment within an inch of its life.

A recently study in the UK focusing on the impact of body image during pregnancy and after birth has shown a number of alarming findings. The report found that not only were eating problems on the rise, the most vitally important time for human development is from birth to aged 2. Furthermore, the most startling finding was that mothers preoccupied with eating and body issues of their own can attach patterns to their children inadvertently that can affect the child for life.

From the onset all parents want to provide the best for their child and providing them with a positive body image has been proven to be the key to healthy human development. With this in mind, there is no time like the present to throw away the myths of the past and completely embrace the maternal fraternity to ensure everyone is getting the physical and emotional support they need to nurture not just their children but themselves.

Nurturing your body image is easy to say and harder to do, so once my baby hit the six month mark I decided to stop with the body issues and start celebrating my post-baby body – no matter how different it had become from my original chassis. I didn’t shout anything from the roof tops and confront the rude strangers who have given me buckets of advice on how to ‘drop the baby bulge’…. I started to shed…. clothes that is.

I swung open my wardrobe and commenced the post-baby cull. I said goodbye to those size 10 skinny leg jeans that my stretched tummy can no longer wear, tossed out the short shorts I wore the night I met my husband for the first time and I gave away a bag of items that made me heave a sigh of sadness each time I opened the wardrobe doors.

I’ve want to be a role model for my daughter. Sure, I could waste plenty of time being preoccupied with what I’m not and probably will never be anymore – or I could spend a bit of time focusing on healthy eating and loving my body a little more.

I encourage all mothers and mothers-to-be to do the same, start nurturing your body image during pregnancy and post-partum and celebrate the miracle of creating these beautiful little bundles of joy.