Take our Authoritative Parenting Test

Find a therapist near me

Pregnant bodies often become public, but your experience still belongs to you.

Even positive comments can reinforce harmful body monitoring and comparison.

You can redirect, reframe, or set boundaries without being unkind.

Protecting your space supports a more trusting relationship with your body.

When a Body Becomes Public

Working as an eating disorder therapist, I have the privilege of supporting many pregnant clients. I have also witnessed something that is both common and quietly harmful: the way a pregnant body becomes public property. Comments, questions, and even unsolicited touch are often framed as excitement or care. But for someone navigating eating disorder recovery, poor body image, or a complicated relationship with food, these moments can feel intrusive, destabilizing, and deeply personal.

Pregnancy already asks a body to change quickly and visibly. For individuals with a history of an eating disorder, those changes can bring up vulnerability, grief, pride, fear, or all of the above. Then, layered on top of........

© Psychology Today