Victoria BeckhamA new article in the Canadian press is crediting celebrity moms with causing a sad and unhealthy phenomenon among "regular" pregnant women known as "pregorexia."

The article basically says that when women who are expecting see photos of celebrities who haven't put on much weight during their pregnancies and still look all perfect and beautiful, it makes them feel bad about their own changing bodies. As a result, some women wind up developing eating disorders not only during their pregnancies, but right after giving birth as well.

And even though the idea that some women are so negatively affected by images of super-fit new celebrity moms that they wind up having eating disorders seems kind of far-fetched, I can absolutely see how something like that could happen.

I was pregnant with my son right around the time that celebrities like Katie Holmes and Britney Spears were pregnant with their babies too. And even though both of them looked pretty comparable to how most pregnant women do in their final trimester, I still couldn't help but compare the size of my rear end with theirs, especially in the months right after I had my son. I had a tough time shedding all of my baby weight -- took me a good nine months. And I can still remember seeing both of them step out looking slim and trim a couple months postpartum, and it made me feel pretty bad about my own appearance.

Lately there seem to be more and more celebrities popping up who don't gain much weight at all during their pregnancies, and I can't even imagine how seeing their images must make women who can't see their feet and don't even recognize themselves in the mirror feel about the way they look. The Canadian article mentions women like Tori Spelling (who has pranced around with a bikini baby bump more than once), and Victoria Beckham (who didn't even look pregnant right before she gave birth to baby Harper).

For a pregnant woman who is really having a hard time coming to terms with trying to stay in shape and get her pre-baby body back quickly, I can absolutely see where an eating disorder could possibly come into play. And that's why women who are expecting need to be reminded that what they see in the media isn't reality, and everyone gains different amounts of weight during pregnancy. And on top of that, they need to be reminded just how beautiful they look exactly the way they are, regardless of how fast they are able to pack up their maternity clothes and bust out their pre-baby wardrobe.

Have you noticed your self esteem dropping when you see photos of pregnant celebrities?

 

Image via Pacific Coast News