T. Anna Halistrom
Pregnancy is a time of tremendous physical change for a woman. In light of recent research concerning how women’s opinions of their bodies affect behavior and emotional well-being, it is reasonable to ask how women feel about these physical changes during pregnancy and what factors are associated with more positive or negative body images.
The available research (which is sparse) suggests that such factors as age, stage of pregnancy, social and familial support, the presence of eating disorders, and whether a woman had planned her pregnancy may be correlated with a more positive or negative body image. My own preliminary research suggested that age and self-confidence as indicated by satisfaction with career and schooling may also be related to body image. Using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale physical self measure (a standardized psychological tool for which normative data is available) and a measure designed by myself to specifically tap the impressions of pregnant women about body image, I gathered information from 55 primigravidas concerning their feelings about their bodies, the pregnancy itself, their jobs, schooling, and family and social life.
Analyses were performed on factors extracted from the data for the variables of body image, age, planning of pregnancy, stage of pregnancy, family support, husband support (which included information about all male partners, even boyfriends and ex’s), and feelings about the body before pregnancy. I found that women with more positive body images tended to be older, had planned their pregnancies, felt better about their bodies before pregnancy, and had more support from parents, siblings, and husbands. Significantly, most of my sample had very positive body images despite the extent of the physical changes they were experiencing.
My findings are quite consistent with intuition and previous research. However, no firm conclusions can be drawn from this sample until research can be expanded to a larger population. My subjects were a homogenous group of mostly married, LDS women in their early- to mid-twenties; this sample should be widened and diversified. Factors like educational, economic, religious, cultural, and regional background would be interesting to add to the list of predictor variables to see if they correlated with body image. Comparing the feelings of multigravidas with primigravidas may also be a profitable angle for future research. A collection of interviews and in-depth tracking of individual women from different backgrounds during pregnancy would add depth to the findings, and make the research more accessible and useful for the pregnant woman wondering what she can expect during the nine months of gestation.
The available data about women’s feelings and personal experiences during pregnancy is lacking. Pregnant women, their partners, and health practitioners can all benefit from this research and other research in this same vein. The opportunities for learning and understanding are endless.