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. 2014 Sep 23:14:330.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-14-330.

Women's experiences of their pregnancy and postpartum body image: a systematic review and meta-synthesis

Emma L Hodgkinson, Debbie M Smith, Anja Wittkowski  1
Affiliations

Women's experiences of their pregnancy and postpartum body image: a systematic review and meta-synthesis

Emma L Hodgkinson et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy-related physical changes can have a significant impact on a woman's body image. There is no synthesis of existing literature to describe the intricacies of women's experiences of their body, and relevant clinical implications.

Methods: Four electronic databases were searched in February 2014 using predefined search terms. English-language, qualitative studies published between January 1992 and December 2013 exploring pregnancy and postpartum body image were included. Following quality appraisal, 17 papers were synthesised using the interpretive thematic synthesis approach within a social constructionist framework.

Results: Three themes were highlighted: "Public Event: 'Fatness' vs. Pregnancy", "Control: Nature vs. Self", and "Role: Woman vs. Mother". Women perceived the pregnant body to be out of their control and as transgressing the socially constructed ideal, against which they tried to protect their body image satisfaction. Women perceived the physical manifestation of the mothering role as incongruent to their other roles as a wife or partner, or working woman. Body dissatisfaction dominated the postpartum period.

Conclusions: Women's perception of their pregnancy body image is varied and depends on the strategies they use to protect against social constructions of female beauty. Women have unrealistic expectations for their postpartum body, highlighting this as an area where women need better support. Attending to women's narratives about their pregnant body may identify at-risk women and provide an opportunity for health professionals to provide support to either address or accept body image dissatisfaction. Clinical communication training may enable health professionals to explore body image concerns with women and guide them in identifying ways of accepting or reducing any dissatisfaction.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram showing the search method and exclusion process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representation of the synthesised themes and higher level interpretive themes, and their presence during pregnancy and the postpartum phase. Arrows indicate links between the themes highlighting that the content and implications of each theme are interconnected and thus cannot be taken in isolation. ‘Pre-pregnancy’ – the time before becoming pregnancy; ‘Inbetween’ – the initial phase in the first trimester before the woman’s expanding stomach is clearly visible; ‘Postpartum’ – up to two years after childbirth.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Pre-publication history
    1. The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/14/330/prepub

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