On the back of this article The Sunday Telegraph have asked what Mumsnetters think out the pressure on women to stay in shape during their pregnancies. Are celebrity magazines to blame? Why are we expected to marvel at a flat-stomached Nicole Kidman just ten days after the birth of her baby and what effect will all of this have on the babies themselves in the long run?

There's a tight deadline but I promised we'd have some thoughts in the next few minutes.... so over to you.

Well, I kept getting hassled for having a bump and nothing else. (Growth checks etc) Lost loads of weight within seconds of starting breastfeding, and am a size 8 after 4 kids, so, up to them. I'm healthy, the babies were normal weights - i don't feel any pressure to lose weight, it just happens. Plus, it is their job to look good - look at the pasting they get it Heat etc for looking a bit lumpy. As long as the babies aren't starved (unlikely) I don't care.

Ugh. Just realised the article was from the Mail. Women can't win then.

Frankly I find all those celebrity types so divorced from my reality, that it doesn't affect me at all, anymore than it worries me that Jo of the Chalet School could pop out triplets without putting on any weight.

I feel no pressure. The life of a celebrity bares absolutely no resemblance to my life, so I don't really compare myself to them.

And I avoid celebrity magazines

I just think thank God I'm not a 'celebrity' and don't have to worry about such things. I've never felt any pressure myself.

I couldn't really care to be honest.

bears

i didn't excercise at all in any pregnancy but after ds1 i did spiral back into ED's BECAUSE celebs were so thin days afterwards and i kept being asked why i hadn't lost the weight.

same as peppermint patty

I think the magazines are irresponsible. I don't give a monkeys whether ms c list celeb has a flat tum 3 seconds after giving birth but I am fairly sure that there are women out there who do care and who do feel huge and very unhealthy pressure to lose baby weight quickly

I think it's sad for them and their children if they feel under pressure to be in shape double quick time, but I don't feel it has any bearing on my life whatsoever.

To be honest, that first six months to a year after having DS, I was so wrapped up in him and being a mum, that I didn't care about much else!

But then I don't read celebrity magazines. Ever.

Well, perhaps at the dentists'.

I've never met anyone who has said "I'm trying to lose my jellybelly to look like Posh" I did meet someone who said, "It is much easier to eat wagon wheels for breakfast rather than faff with cereal, bowls, milk, which is why I still have a jellybelly"...

I don't want to know one way or the other. am fed up of the constant focus in media and sleb mags about who has put on/not put on weight and the routine question to new sleb mothers about what they are eating/baby weight.

I think it's just a part of the whole body image issue tbh, I don't separate it at all.
I pity those who are so influenced by celebs that they feel pressured into losing weight (whether pregnant or not).

As for the children, I think they are liable to have 'issues' not because their mothers lost weight quickly after giving birth but because they will be raised by skeletons.

The only irritating thing is hearing their pearls of wisdom about eating raw carrots/ salted popcorn/ etc like the rest of us will go 'omg, that's how to get thin again!'

I wonder if part of the problem is that staff at Heat etc are all pre-parents and don't actually know what a full-term bump looks like - I'm always amused by pictures of celebs with perfectly normal seven-month bumps with captions that say "good lord!! either she's gestating a hippo, or she's much further along in her pregnancy than she's letting on!". This may be because we don't see all that many full-term bumps out and about.
Other than that, I agree with PP - Liz Hurley once said there was no way she'd be so thin if she was a civilian - and I don't feel any need, as a civilian, to emulate celeb foolishness.

Really think "Celebs" are in a no win situation, if they don't gain much weight during pregnancy/lose the weight quickly then the media portray them as vain and having an eating disorder. If they gain a lot of weight then struggle to lose it then they've "let themselves go".
It's a shame we can't just embrace the fact that women are different, some gain lots of weight whilst pregnant, others don't. For some it falls off, for others they really have to work at it.
Personally, I am glad that I had time to lose the 4+stones I gained each time slowly, healthily and without pressure. For me, my priority was spending time with my newborn/growing family not getting into skinny jeans.

don't care what they do tbh

BUT I do worry that women see it as appalling that they put on (gasp) a couple of stone during pg when that's well within the recommended guidelines

or that they haven't lost all the baby weight in 6 weeks or whatever

I think our perception of what is normal re: weight gain and loss is being skewed and not just in pregnancy (lose a stone in X weeks anyone?)

I think it takes the obsession with the perfect figure to ridiculous new levels. I doubt it would cause the babies much harm whilst the celebs were still pregnant, as the body nurtures the baby first, but it must have some impact on the mother's health. Also, it's not setting a great example to the children, in that you must look perfect to get anywhere. I think people have seriously got their priorities wrong if losing weight is their greatest priority after giving birth. There is far too much obsession with weight these days, it's just a joke. It would be much better to see more celebs who were just comfortable in their own skins. Saying that, I put on no weight at all when pregnant with DD, but it wasn't for want of trying. Piled it on whilst bfing!

we prob all know women who have put on loads/no weight at all when pg and who have lost it immediately/after a year or so/only partly or not at all. And they are all normal. It's only when it comes to the DM that normal healthy women have Problems

<wanders off muttering>

bluestocking has a poinmt actually. You see so often pictures of celebs with "baby bumps" when actually they have NORMAL bellies! or its their clothes making a wierd shape!

I agree that it is very sad that some women's prirorities in teh first few weeks of motherhood are not about the baby but about their body. I don't think blame for this can be pinned on the celebs themselves, alot of it is how the media focuses on those celebs and pins nasty comments on the likes of Britney when they are still sporting a small pot belly 9 months after birth. Don't blame the few women like Nicole who may have naturally elastic figures, blame the journos who focus on them and compare everyone else negatively.

Before I had DD I was totally unaware that in real life it takes most women MONTHS to regain any semblance of thir former figure. Twenty-four hours after I had given birth I was horrified that I still had a huge bump and I asked the doctor to check it. She chortled away and explained it would be there for a good while. I felt horrible for the first four months after pregnany, I just had not antipicated the damage that would be done to my body.

On the other hand I am not sure there is "pressure to stay in shape during pregnancy". In some respects I would have welcomed more information about the importance of staying in shape but by MW said nothing and my (very expensive) local gym refuses to allow pregnant women to particpate in any of its exercise classes. I am not six months into my second pregnany and I have made an effort to swim several times a week and I am much smaller than at this stage in my last pregnany. I think women need more info about diet and exercise in pregnany and better access to pregnancy tailored exercise. We could also do with more info about losing weight post-birth. I found breast feeding really helped but it was not a miracle quick fix. You need a big baby with a healthy appetite to take enough calories from you. For me the weight dropped off once DD was 5 months and very hungry.

some peopke lose the weight REALLY easily(dont mean celebs tho-the ones i can reacll(liz hurley/javine hylton for instance) whio say they eat a lettuce leaf a day etc are sad)

but when i had mine i was back in my size 8 jeans after a week.looked the same as befoe and that was with NO exercise and normal eating.if you are like that-fine.if you are straving yoursself post birth and trying to get down the gym then i think you are pushing your self too hard and doing something that your bopdy obviously doesnt want to do

a lot of celebreties are thin because that is part of their job descritpion

a lot of them work at it 24/7

nicole kidman has always been very slender - she didn't put on much weight when she was PG anyway so unsurprisingly she has lost it all quickly

none of my friends have ever said they felt pressure to lose babyweight because of a celeb doing it

i assume when i see the photoshoots A LOT of airbrushing and Spanx wearing is going on plus lots of shots of mum and baby with baby strategically positioned over tummy etc

I think it is a pressure, and for some mums will be another reason not to breastfeed. As although you can lose a lot of weight that way - you can retain a certain amount of fat. It also means it's more difficult to get back to exercising etc.

I agree with Huw that's it's all bound up in the whole body issue image.

Message withdrawn

I think that most "normal" new mums are too busy and wrapped up in their own worlds to be bothered about slebs that are back into a size zero 6 weeks post birth, but it certainly does alot of harm in the long run as to what people think is the "norm", the more we see of slebs being so skinny both during pregnancy and so soon after childbirth in the media, the more it will be seen as normal, which is so sad.

I don't feel pressured by celebs losing weight/not putting it on pre and post pregnancy - their lives are so far removed from mine I really don't feel its an issue.

I couldn't care less about Nicole Kidman's belly tbh, but I'm an older mum, and I think it may be different for younger mums - more pressure to get it all snapped bak into shape. Mostly I feel quite sorry for the celeb in question that this takes priority over the babymoon for them, but they are in a no-win situation - damned if they do (Nicoles Kidman and Ritchie) and damned if they don't (J-Lo, after she first gave birth, though a few months on and she seems back to pre-pg figure to me).

I liked Milla Jovavich's attitude when pg, though.

I think its mad and sad and really respect celebs who don't succumb to the pressure.

I know that probably a lot are genetically blessed after all they're gorgeous and slim and i'd probably have been a bit more concerned about weight gain if the world's media was stalking me.

However it does create unrealistic expectations. Breastfeeding which they all profess to do doesn't necessarily turn you into a sylph over night. And whats with 'the running round after a newborn' that they also always say helped them lose weight. In my experience newborns don't move very fast.

Of course if i had a personal trainer, day and night nanny and personal chef i'd look fab too.

I do get annoyed at the unrealistic expectations of weight generally - most people are NOT healthy at a size 6 or whatever, most women do out on at least a couple of stone in pg and most women take a while to lose it (the weight that is ). Agree with whoever said that a normal 9 mo bump is made to look massive by the gutter press (and while we're on teh subjcet, what about pics of bfing?)

'in my experience newborns don't move very fast'

What pressure? If there is any, then I blame the media (including newspapers) not the 'celebs' themselves.

But following on from the comments here - the whole point is that restricting your diet during pregnancy CAN have health effects on the baby.

I think it's quite well established that 'starving' yourself during pregnancy leads to the childs genes being programmed to famine mode so they will have a propensity to put on weight which I guess in this day and age leads to a higher possibility of obesity - I think that's what the article was trying to say.

I didn't feel pressured by the celebs, but didn't put weight on during pregnancy (constant nausea for 16 weeks and pregnancy after repeated loss does that), and lost two dress sizes in 6 months whilst breastfeeding (and eating everything in sight). I know other women who put on 2 or 3 stone as they felt that pregnancy was a time that they could not 'be on a diet', and felt less pressured about their body than at other times.

I really admire Charlotte Church who does things as she likes and doesn't give a stuff about anyone elses views (it seems)

Agree it's not the celebs at fault it;s the media (OK, Heat et al) for their pointless articles on size of bumps during and after pregnancy.

Look how slim she is now/struggling with her bay weight.

It's all bollocks.

they are aspirations are they not?

if we could all do it - there would be no 'marvelling' at nicole kidman.

whether they should be aspired to is another thing, and incorporates the whole of the media vis-a-vis weight and visualised ideals.

It's totally false anyway. man y of the celebs pose of the steps of the portland with new baby, then are separated from their baby whilst they either a) head off for detox spa/mass training sessions for a few weeks or b) have liposuction. Meanwhile baby is looked after by maternity nanny or relatives.

I feel sorry for them that they put the vanity imposed on them ahead of the need to bond with their new baby.

(And btw, I know this happens as have friends who work at the Portland).

Lol at somments saying people know of others who have put on two or three stone in pregnany. That is not alot guys. It is within normal guidelines.

With DD I put on five stone... By 7 months post-partum I had lost six stone so was lighter than before I started. Six months into this pregnancy I have put on one and a half stone and I reckon that is a really good amount to have gained. If I can get to nice months with a 2.5 - 3 stone gain I will be VERY pleased with myself.

Oh I can say loads about this having had a 'concealed pregnancy'.

But must dash to get DS from preschool, so just posting now to put it in my active convos.

Surely more people could do it if they wanted to? It's just more important if it's your job NOT to 'eat for two' etc and pile on six stone you then can't lose for ages afterwards. Their real lives are different to ours. I didn't eat much more when I was pregnant, only put on a bump and then lost it quickly. But then, I like being slim more than I like cake. Weird, I know. BTW I have no issue with people who do take ages to lose weight - we are all leading our own lives etc and slebs need to look thin etc to get paid/ avoid being trashed in tatty mags.

atri: I put on 2.5 stone with DS and you wou ld be amazed at the comments I got on how big I was getting (and I'm 5'8 so it was actually not a massive amount for my frame)

Effie: Strangely nobody commented on my size when I gained 5 stone. I think they were all too embarrassed! I am 5' 11' but still it was alot to gain. Some of it (about one stone?) was down to bad water retention and my ankles were like elephants. This time all I get told is "you are so small".

FWIW I am not sure how much you eat has the any relevance to how much you gain. I have eaten more healthily in this pregnancy than I do normally and I have exercised more. However my body reacts to the faintest hint of HCG by piling on the pounds.

I think women should not give a toss about "celebrity" Mums but unfortunately some do, and some will try and emulate.

It doesn't help when newspapers publish photos of the likes of Nicole Kidman, days before she gives birth heading off to the gym (looking stick thin with a bump that is more like the average 4/5month bump).

Those pregnant women (and they are out there)who aspire to have that sort of figure may feel that they are a failure by not going to the gym right up to birth or not working out for 4 hrs a day post-natally.

There are also celebs who almost hide from the limelight when pregnant as if theres something to be embarrassed about in putting on weight (Posh springs to mind -you see very few photos of her pregnant)

OTOH those that are photographed are deemed to be huge/bloted/overweight, with articles that mock how much extra weight they've put on.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't in the medias eyes

I find it disapointing that loosing baby weight seems to be equated with succeess as a mother and there almost seems to be a desire to deny the motherhood process. I can remember writing about this topic when studying and reading loads of articles in glossies by new mums and the only mention of time spent with the baby was when one celebrtity said she spent time every day using her dd as a substitute dumb bell.

But agree that these celebrities don;t have mormal body types to begin with so will not have a normal post pregnancy figure.

I was very shocked, upset and depressed by my body after having my first baby. I had no idea I was so fat, I focussed on my bump. I was still stones overweight and breastfeeding did NOT make it all melt away as I had been told. I have struggled with my weight ever since, and yes, it does get me down. I'm not sure I compared myself with pregnant/new mother celebs though - I compared myself with how I was just nine months before.
BUT I couldn't help getting so fat. I ate super-healthily, got my five a day and more, ate fish, didn't drink, loads of salad - a mjuch healthier diet than my pre-pregnant one. It was mostly changes in my hormones and metabolism that made me gain stones and stones of fat in such a comparatively short time. I think to be told that research showed I had probably damaged my precious new baby and predisposed them to a lifetime of obesity and ill health would have made me practically suicidal at that point.
Sometimes you just can't HELP gaining weight or not gaining weight in pregnancy. Yes, I know the research is valid etc, but god, it's depressing. YOu just can't win and it's all your fault!

i find it depressing that women are thougth of as so stupid by the newspapers that serves them (DM being a classic wifey's paper) that they think this stuff actually does influence our behaviour. i know a dm journalist who told me wrt to their stories 'if it's not hurting it's not working'. nice.

I think its pretty subtle - although I know that papers print rubbish (esp daily mail etc).. I was surprised about how mcuh I minded putting on weight and then the shape my body was in..I don't think its entirely celeb mags (although it does add to the general culture of thinking its ok to comment on women for looks/thinness) but I do think that there is a general lack of realistic sensible advice on exercise trhough pregnancy and diet/exericse afterwards..

I am quite encouraged by celebs that do get fat (like Catherine Zeta Jones and Liz Hurley) and I wish I could afford their combo of maternity nurse, trainer and chef to get the flab off afterwards, frankly.

I think its made worse by the celebs themselves saying that the weight jsut dropped off them, bfing is the micracle cure for weight loss after pregnancy etc etc etc...
It would be refreshing for them to actually admit what it takes for them to lose the weight...hey it would be good if they would all tell the truth about what they eat rather than claiming that they all eat like horses and can't put the weight on!
(and yes I realise that people do exist like this but really, every single female celeb in the whole world???)

I don't care what slebs look like, pre- post- or other-partum. I don't care if they look like scrawny skeletons or hippos. They aren't role models to me, they don't matter to me, I don't understand why anybody cares about them.

But I will observe... With their money, they should be able to afford to look 'good' after having a baby, it would surprise me if they didn't, given their livelihood is usually their looks, they have to take great care about that asset.

I didn't feel any pressure myself when I was pregnant, however I hate reading in magazines about how well celeb X has done in losing 4 stone in 2 weeks. It does my head in.

exactly ljkk, it's their JOB to look good. when accountants go back after maternity leave i'm sure they're not particularly inclined to be honest about the fact that placenta brain has left them unable to add 2 and 2 together.

"On the back of this article The Sunday Telegraph have asked what Mumsnetters think out the pressure on women to stay in shape during their pregnancies."

Wait a minute, I've read that article and as much as it's the DM it's a sensible article, research showing if you RESTRICT your calories during pregnancy to less than your body needs then there might be consequences to your child, if you eat a sensible diet where calories in = calories out then the majority of women will not put on a huge amount of weight during pregnancy that is not baby related and it is well known that staying fit can make the labour easier.

As people have already stated celebs jobs are to look good, they can have healthy pregnancies without putting on loads of weight, continue exercising and once the baby is born they have a support network of chefs and personal trainers to get back into shape made easier by the fact they probably didn't allow themselves to get out of shape during the pregnancy.

I felt alot of pressure to lose weight. I only had a tiny bump, but put on weight breast feeding and went from pre-preg size 8-10 to post baby 14-16.

I felt huge pressure to lose weight, but refused to diet as I was breast feeding, even joined a gym, and went 4 times a week but didn't lose a pound.
I kept saying '9months up, 9 months down', but I didnt really mean it. I just felt people were judging me for putting on the weight, or being too lazy for not losing it. I was eating more, but I was always so hungry! It was a vicious circle - was iserable cos i was overweight so i ate to cheer myself up.

Eventually I lost the weight when I stopped breasst feeding at 10 months, and I'm glad now that I didn't succomb to the pressure as I gave my dd the best start in life, and i plan on BFing DC2 (Due in 2 days) but I will be watching what I eat, going for more sensible options than strawberry cheesecake!

I think it is setting yet another precedent that us ordinary mortals cannot possibly live up to. Moreover, it's unnatural - our 'baby fat' is there for a reason.

i did not put much weight on with dd cos i was sick all the way through. i seem to remember it just came off and i was pretty much back to normal.

with ds i could eat and eat i did and i got fairly big i suppose. after i had him the weight did not drop off but it was just before christmas. i started at slimming world in the may wearing maternity trousers.

i dont think the pressure was from celebrities but more that i did not want to buy a new wardrobe and my eating habits were just terrible. i lost nearly two stone and have put a stone back on (ds is two in nov)

I went from 8 stone to 9.5 during pregnancy, but then lost it all almost straight away. However that's just the way I am. I think for celebs to bang on about losing their baby weight and even to bring out videos encouraging women to lose it in a set time period is irresponsible.

If you breastfeed especially the extra weight can be very handy and you should't be dieting whilst breastfeeding. Seeing these superskinny mothers makes me wonder if they do breastfeed their babies - I think not.

It's unrealistic and downright dangerous to suggest that new mothers should lose all of their baby weight in a few weeks. In a feminist era I also find it unsettling that women still feel the need to look good at all times or somehow she's a failure.

I put on over 4 stone when pregnant. About 2 months after giving birth (and after losing 2 stone without any dieting), DH rather unhelpfully pointed out that Heidi Klum had been on a catwalk in a bikini 8 weeks after her son was born Obviously he realised this isn't normal, but still at magazines suggesting that it is.
Anyway, within 6 months of giving birth I had actually lost 5 stone and felt great, all through limited dieting and a lot of breastfeeding

I am in the camp of those who don't give a toss about slebs, pregnant or not

However I know a lot of people wouldn't fart unless they'd read that some no-mark was into farting this season. I'm not sure that is the slebs fault per se. I mean surely it is up to them if they want to get back into shape quickly. Presumably their careers depend on looking slim and attractive(well some of them).

If people feel bad about themselves because of something slebs do I think that the people themselves need to examine their motivation in life and their self-esteem.

I couldn't give a running fart about whether a celeb has put on or lost weight pre, during or post pregnancy.
They obviously do, as image is their life, but it bears no relation to mine.
It is a shame that women may perceive that there is more pressure to be "back to normal" whatever that is post natally, immediately, but whether that is really celeb lead or whether it's another fence we've as women developed for ourselves to leap over I have no idea. We spend so much time trying to be everything for everyone and doing it perfectly that it wouldn't surprise me.
I'm too busy getting my norks out feedng the baba, and chained to the cooker trying to feed the others and thinking about getting back to work to even worry about losing weight. It would be nice though.....

I actually felt more depressed by ordinary people assuring me that the fat would just all be burned off by breastfeeding than by celebrities. My fat stayed exactly where it was despite feeding a big fat boy for over a year. Another thing to fail at!
And I had some friends with babies my age that got slim again very quickly and I found that hard too. I was very self-conscious.