Plus Size Article: Pregnancy And Size Discrimination

Posted under Plus Size Body Article, Plus Size Information, Plus Size Maternity, Plus Size Women Articles by Plus Size Shopper

Plus sized women face plenty of discrimination all the time but when we’re pregnant, the fun takes on a whole new form. When we are suffering from pregnancy signs and symptoms, it is perhaps not the comments from “concerned” relatives, friends, and even random strangers that are most hurtful – it is our healthcare providers that take the crown.

Are you pregnant, or trying to conceive? Women who have gone before you have had the pleasure of receiving comments like these from their obstetricians or midwives [1]:

You’re too fat. You are going to need a cesarean because of your weight. It is not good to be going into a pregnancy this obese.

I need you to get an epidural early in labor because with your weight, it will be hard to do one in an emergency!

You need to sort out your exercises.

The reason you had a miscarriage is because you’re too fat. You will never carry a pregnancy to term unless you stop eating Big Macs.

I see you gained 10 lbs since you were last into the doctor. You don’t want to be a fat mom who can’t run after your kids, right?

It’s lovely, isn’t it, how all those usual prejudices creep into maternity care? These are not really the kind of comments we expect from our doctors, yet they come up very frequently. Perhaps it is time for us to teach our healthcare providers a lesson, and counter those assumptions you find right there in those comments – who are they to assume that you are lazy, don’t exercise, eat Big Macs, and that they don’t need to treat you like a human just because you are plus sized?

What can you do if you meet one of these prejudices in your doctor’s office? Besides finding another doctor as soon as you can – one who will respect you – you might find that humor is the best way of dealing with folks like these. It’s not good going into a pregnancy this obese? “Well, it’s all my fault for not having had two thin parents. Perhaps I should just not carry on your bad genes at all?” If you are told to “sort out your exercises”, tell your doctor to “sort out their manners”. If you are told you don’t want to be a mom who can’t run after her kids, maybe your doctor should hear that she doesn’t want to be that mom who passes bad manners onto hers.

Size discrimination takes on a whole new level when we are expecting a baby. But remember, you should not have to deal with rudeness just because you are carrying a new human inside your uterus, even when the rudeness comes under the guise of medical care.

Image courtesy of http://www.plusshe.com/.

Olivia is a mom of two who loves her body, and doesn’t care what others say. You can find her at Trying To Conceive, where she writes about fertility, pregnancy and babies. With her free ovulation calendar, you can find out when you are most likely to conceive.

1. Source: “My OB said what!?” (http://www.myobsaidwhat.com/)