Weight Changes and Body Image in Pregnant Women: A Challenge for Health Care Professionals

Abstract

Body changes concerns and body image dissatisfaction are common during pregnancy. We aimed to examine whether health care professionals (HCPs): (i) believe that women are concerned about body image during pregnancy; (ii) consider it important to question, support, and intervene when pregnant women express body image concerns; (iii) feel comfortable enough in their abilities to question pregnant women with concerns; and (iv) have sufficient knowledge and skills to provide adequate support. A 36-item e-survey, developed by ÉquiLibre in collaboration with an expert committee, was sent to HCPs via email. HCPs believe that some situations are associated with body image concerns: postpregnancy weight loss (74.0%), perceived changes in their appearance (65.9%), excessive weight gain (65.3%), and feeling less in control of their body (36.8%). Among 321 responders, 60% considered it important to question pregnant women’s concerns. One in four (25.4%) considered themselves “totally comfortable” asking about weight and body image concerns. Our study showed that HCPs need to be better supported in developing their abilities to help weight-preoccupied pregnant women. There is an urgent need to clarify HCPs’ roles and to delineate the referral process as well as to ensure staff availability, in terms of time and personnel.

Nursing staff’s experience of appearance issues in various nursing situations

“…This study found that the complexity surrounding appearance issues was related to the participants' experience of challenges in identifying, addressing, and supporting patients regarding appearance issues. Previous research confirms appearance issues as challenging for health care professionals and found a need for resources for improvement of appearance-related care [8,10,11,[27][28][29]44]. Hospital settings are, according to the findings of the present study, equipped with extra resources for coping with appearance issues through the availability of a variety of professions, but previous research shows a need for clarification regarding different roles and access to referral [28].…”

“…The psychosocial impacts of appearance concerns among patients across the lifespan add to this importance and have frequently being reported by health care staff [ 8 , 10 ]. The importance of appearance issues can be exemplified by previous research showing that approximately 36% of cancer patients experience appearance problems [ 27 ], weight concerns are common among pregnant women [ 28 ] and appearance issues are important in the care of patients with dementia [ 29 ]. In the present study the participants’ experience of appearance issues were also strongly related to the relationship between appearance concerns and negative health consequences, that is a pathogenic perspective [ 30 ].…”

“…Previous research confirms appearance issues as challenging for health care professionals and found a need for resources for improvement of appearance-related care [ 8 , 10 , 11 , 27 – 29 , 44 ]. Hospital settings are, according to the findings of the present study, equipped with extra resources for coping with appearance issues through the availability of a variety of professions, but previous research shows a need for clarification regarding different roles and access to referral [ 28 ]. Staff in appearance-related professions have been identified as more confident regarding patients’ appearance issues [ 8 ] and the findings confirm the need for knowledge, awareness, and skills among nursing staff outside appearance-related speciality units within the health care system.…”

“…The need for awareness raising and knowledge development regarding appearance issues has been identified [ 8 , 11 , 44 ] as well as the benefit with reflective practice in health care [ 47 ] and especially collective learning processes for quality improvement of care [ 48 ]. Time is an important resource for participating in collective learning processes and the participants also emphasised the previously identified need for time allocation regarding appearance-related awareness and support [ 8 , 28 ].…”

The Relationship between Body Image, Quality of Life, and Their Predicting Factors in Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…However, body image disturbance and body i mage dissatisfaction are common during pregnancy, according to the previous studies. 10,17,37 The results of this study revealed that BMI was the most significant predictor of pregnant women's body image and body dissatisfaction, meaning that those with higher BMI had greater body image disturbance and body dissatisfaction. Similarly, other related studies have shown that pregnant women experience body image disturbance and body dissatisfaction due to mental and physical changes and a marked increase in body weight and fat mass.…”