Things You Should Stop Saying To A Pregnant Woman
This is my second pregnancy and let me tell you, I’m amazed at how reckless people are with their misplaced and inappropriate comments, so I thought “let’s talk about it”.
Particularly, I am in love with my belly; big or small, round or not. I was also in love with my first baby-belly and I loved to see myself in the mirror and put on tight clothes to make it stand out. However, this time I do not feel as radiant as in my first pregnancy.
For many, if not all, this is a very vulnerable stage. Hormones sprout through our pores and emotions (positive or not) are a thousand times more intense. It makes comments that would not normally affect us, devastating.
So, here I bring to you “Things You Should Stop Saying To A Pregnant Woman”.
- Are you sure there are not two in there?
And even if there are two or three, this comment can make mom feel huge. Believe me, we are aware that our belly is growing and our pants are no fitting. I DON’T NEED A REMINDER.
Besides, you don’t know if mom is having a hard time accepting the change in her body.
In this category we can include comments like: “You’re big/huge”, “wow, what a belly!” or anything between these lines.
- It doesn’t look like you’re pregnant!
Same principle as above.
You have no idea what that mom is going through. You do not know if there is a problem with her pregnancy, if her baby is small, or, as in was my case the first time around, I am tall and my belly wasn’t showing as much (at least until 7, almost 8, months)
In short, any comment about belly size is NOT ACCEPTABLE.
- You have to keep trying for the boy
So what? If you don’t have one of each gender, doesn’t it count?
- You look tired!
Yes, I probably am. A baby is growing inside of me and is EXHAUSTING.
And let’s not talk if that mom has another kid(s) to take care of.
- You can tell it’s a girl, she’s stealing your beauty.
Really?
Are you seriously gonna tell that mom she’s ugly?
- Oh, wait until what…
If you’re not going to say anything positive after, you better stick your tongue way up to…
- Was it planned?
It’s just not your problem.
- Beware of a third one
Together with a “you can close the fabric now”, “wow, another one?”.
This is very common to hear when you already have one of each gender.
And if I want/have one, two or 15 children, it is nobody’s problem.
- Horror stories
Let me close with this one and ask, what’s the need?
Ever since I got pregnant the first time I’ve been hearing “I lost my baby at x months” “My delivery this, my labor that”…
What’s the need of telling a new mom or any pregnant woman those horror stories? Believe me, we are anxious enough about what could go wrong and we googled everything. We even discuss it with our doctors.
So STOP!
I am well aware that you cannot control what others say or stop saying, but you have NO IDEA what that mom may or may not be going through. So the next time you run into a pregnant woman, be aware and kind. If you don’t have anything good to say, you’d better stay down.
What about you, mommy; have you heard any of these comments? What would you add to the list?
