Mothers-to-be can help research take shape amid warning over pressure to ‘measure up’

The work is part of an investigation by experts at Leeds Metropolitan University which has uncovered a stark “invisibility” of the pregnant body in many fashion and beauty magazines.

They have found media that do acknowledge pregnancy tend to focus on celebrity mothers-to-be and in particular their still slender and almost “perfect” appearance during pregnancy and their ability to rapidly lose their baby weight after the birth.

The work suggests a major difference between the bodily changes experienced by the majority of women during pregnancy and the expectations given by the media and celebrity culture – leading to increased pressure to “measure up”.

In a follow-up study, a team led by psychologist Nova Deighton-Smith spoke to first-time, pregnant mothers-to-be who also said that while they experienced the elation of becoming pregnant, their first three months was a troubling time when thinking about their appearance. Many had not yet announced they were expecting to friends or colleagues but changes in the shape of their bodies and early weight gain made the decision to conceal or reveal their pregnancy a challenging one.

The team is now launching an online survey of more women about their expectations of their appearance to examine the relationships between body image and a range of psychological, health and lifestyle factors.

Ms Deighton-Smith said: “For the most part, we are interested to hear how women think and feel about their bodies and appearance in pregnancy, as this seems to be an area which is often overlooked.”

All responses will be confidential but volunteers will be given the chance to enter a prize draw for £100 of gift vouchers. For further details email [email protected]