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Opinion

09th Feb 2024

‘Mums are under too much pressure to look ‘Instagram cute’ during pregnancy’

HerFamily

pressure

Is pregnancy not enough pressure without the pressure to look cute too?

Being an expectant mum in the age of social media is not easy.

Even though we try not to compare ourselves to other mums we see online, it’s hard not to feel like you don’t match up with the super coiffed Instagram mums.

With that being said, if you are living your best pregnancy fashion life I’m absolutely not having a go at you. But I do feel like mums are being made feel that they need to look glowing and stylish their whole pregnancy and it is just not reality.

As much as I didn’t want to, during both of my pregnancies I felt very self-conscious when it came to how I looked.

Everywhere I looked I saw articles or social media posts about how stylish celebrity and influencer mums looked during their pregnancies, or tips on how to step up your pregnancy style.

It made me look at my stretchy jeggings and oversized tops in the mirror and feel, well, like crap.

I felt like I wasn’t doing it right and wasn’t living up to the standard expected of me during my pregnancy.

All I wanted to do was be comfy, especially since I was dealing with morning sickness and back pain. The last thing I wanted to think about was what I was wearing.

When I look back at photos of me while I was pregnant, there’s not really any that I would say are ‘Instagramable’, I was just trying really hard not to throw up.

To this day I honestly don’t know how other mums look like they just walked out of a fashion magazine, because not only did I not have the energy to put together a manicured outfit during pregnancy, but I also couldn’t find anything cute that fit.

Aside from jeggings, I had the odd dress that had a bit of give in it that I would throw on if I was going anywhere nice, but for the most part, I just threw on whatever still fit.

I don’t think how I dressed during pregnancy was abnormal and I know for a fact my mam wasn’t taking her pregnancy fashion inspiration from the pages of Vogue, but she also didn’t have social media to contend with.

As I said above, if you are one of the mums who love to look primped, you go girl. But if you just want to live in stretchy bottoms and hoodies, don’t feel like you’re alone.

There is so much pressure put on motherhood and we really need to just give it the two fingers because it’s hard enough being pregnant and raising children without worrying about judgment from other people.

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