The Baby Bump Project

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Talking about the 'bump': pregnancy in the public

Why all the talk about ‘baby bumps’?

Melbourne University Gender Studies PhD student, Meredith Nash, is eager to find out.....

Check out Meredith's latest article, 'I'm not fat, I'm pregnant', in Cosmopolitan Pregnancy magazine this month!

I'm not fat, I'm pregnant: Cosmo Pregnancy

Why? The focus on ‘baby bumps’ in popular culture is overwhelming and often constructs the fetus as public property.

What? A term that has only been used in the last two years, ‘baby bump’ is increasingly becoming the defining feature of a pregnant woman’s body. Not only does the ‘bump’ recognise a pregnancy but it also symbolises a growing fetus that is thought of as a separate person or ‘baby’ even before the birth.

How? Pregnant celebrities call upon a batallion of trainers, nutritionists and nannies to help them ‘get their body back’. The average first-time mother does not have access to such luxuries. Talk about pressure! Photographs of tight and polished postpartum celebrity bodies are most likely influencing the diet and fitness regimes of many women trying to lose ‘baby weight’.

Check out The Baby Bump Project blog to post your own experience of having a 'bump' to share with other mums. You can even post images of yourself pregnant or postpartum! http://babybumpproject.blogspot.com

Where? Despite the onslaught of attention paid to pregnancy in the media, there is relatively little research focusing on the experiences of ‘real’ women sharing their experiences of pregnancy in their own voices. In a longitudinal study, I am interviewing women across Australia to understand how they experience each trimester of pregnancy and how they feel postpartum with the birth of a new baby.