Wombs at risk, wombs as risk: Fat women’s experiences of reproductive care

McPhail, Deborah; Bombak, Andrea E.; Ward, Pamela; Allison, Jill

doi:10.1080/21604851.2016.1143754

Cited by 44 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, healthcare providers over-medicalized these pregnancies, making assumptions about health and abilities based on weight [13]. Lastly, 24 heavy Canadian women reported experiencing "mother-blame" where healthcare providers characterized weight-related fetal risk as indicative of unfitness for motherhood [14,15]. In this study, many women also experienced alarming preconception practices, including providers refusing to remove implanted contraceptives such as an intrauterine device.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Pregnant and postpartum women’s experiences of weight stigma in healthcare

Rodriguez

Smieszek

Nippert

et al. 2020

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Weight stigma is a societal phenomenon that is very prevalent in healthcare, precipitating poor patient-provider relationships, discontinuity of care, and delayed cancer screening. Little research, though, has investigated weight stigma in prenatal and postpartum healthcare. To address this gap, this study examined the prevalence and frequency of weight-stigmatizing experiences in prenatal and postpartum healthcare. Methods: 501 pregnant and postpartum women responded to an online survey where they reported whether they had experienced weight stigma in prenatal or postpartum healthcare and, if so, how frequently. Participants also responded to questions about how providers had treated them regarding their weight and their reactions to these experiences. A subset of participants (n = 80) also provided examples of their experiences, and these were subjected to a thematic analysis and coded for overarching themes. Results: Nearly 1 in 5 women (n = 92) reported experiencing weight stigma in healthcare settings. Percentages differed by BMI, with 28.4% of participants with pre-pregnancy obesity endorsing healthcare providers as a source of weight stigma. Experiences occurred between "less than once a month" and "a few times a month." Obstetricians were the most commonly-reported source (33.8%), followed by nurses (11.3%). Participants reported feeling judged, shamed, and guilty because of their weight during healthcare visits. Additionally, 37 participants (7.7%) reported having changed providers because of treatment regarding their weight. Many also reported that they expected to feel or had felt uncomfortable seeking help with breastfeeding from a healthcare professional. Finally, thematic analysis of the open-ended examples identified four key themes: (1) negative attitudes and unkind or disrespectful treatment from providers; (2) evaluative comments about their weight; (3) healthcare providers focusing on their high-risk status and potential negative consequences (often when birth outcomes were ultimately healthy); and (4) inappropriate or demeaning comments. Conclusions: Weight stigma may be a common experience in pregnancy and postpartum healthcare. Providers need additional training to avoid stigmatizing their patients and inadvertently undermining patient-provider relationships, quality of care, and health outcomes.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Pregnant and postpartum women’s experiences of weight stigma in healthcare

Rodriguez

Smieszek

Nippert

et al. 2020

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Another example is how women express that their needs are not met when they experience limited access to proper hospital equipment or are denied prenatal care procedures due to their weight (Keenan and Stapleton , McPhail et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Between blame and care: women's ‘needs talk’ about obesity interventions in prenatal care

Lauridsen

2020

Sociology Health & Illness

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pregnant women's weight is no longer a private life situation, but a public health issue. In western prenatal care policies, pregnant women with a high body mass index (BMI) are targeted as a high-risk group in need of extra prenatal care to prevent pregnancy complications and childhood obesity. Recent studies argue that such targeting leads to a number of unintended negative consequences for women such as stigmatisation and mother blame. While targeting based on BMI increases the surveillance of women's weight and behaviour in pregnancy, it might also provide extra care and services for women. This article draws on Nancy Fraser's concept of 'needs talk' to investigate how women interpret Danish prenatal care services provided to meet the 'obese' pregnant women's needs. The analysis shows that women engage ambivalently with claims about their needs and who they 'are' as these are formulated by health authorities. Some claims and assumptions about the 'obese' pregnant woman are accepted. Others are rejected or redefined. The article concludes by discussing maternal ambivalence about the obesity discourse in relation to the 'obese' pregnant woman as a category that positions women between being blamed and receiving extra prenatal care.

show abstract

“…While dominant in constituting contemporary meanings, the problematization of fat pregnant people as a risk to the life and health of their babies-to-be, and the public purse, is not universally accepted as a public good. Critical scholars have pointed to the ways in which the dominant discourses and practices that constitute contemporary concern with pregnancy fatness have been shown to be highly disruptive to the emergence of a positive maternal identity for fat pregnant women leading to increased medical management of otherwise health pregnancies, anxious engagement with self-managing behaviors, and a highly negative affective space in which to embark on parenting (McPhail et al, 2016;Parker and Pausé, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I'm Just a Woman Having a Baby”: Negotiating and Resisting the Problematization of Pregnancy Fatness

Parker

Pausé

2018

Front. Sociol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores how fat pregnant people construct successful narratives around their pregnancies and birthing. Fat pregnant people are a critical site for the war on fatness; viewed as irresponsible: threatening the health of their pregnancy, and the far-off future of their child. Contemporary knowledge about pregnancy fatness is imbued with longstanding and powerful gendered biomedical discourses that have served to script women's reproductive bodies as faulty and deviant compared to the masculine "norm," priming them for medical management and control. The problematization of pregnancy fatness represents a concerning extension of maternal responsibilization to pregnancy, entangling pregnant people in a politics of preemptive action to secure their children's future health, all the while denying the socio-political, economic and cultural realities of women's lives that constrain their ability to do so. Policy and media responses have located both the causes of, and solutions to, the problem of pregnancy fatness in women's individual self-management imploring them to take responsibility for the necessary lifestyle changes needed to reduce the risks posed by their fat bodies to their babies and the health system. This paper extends critical scholarship on the problematization of pregnancy fatness by identifying the importance of understanding not only how women are oppressed by these dominant discourses but also how they are involved in strategies of negotiation and resistance. By creating space for alternate versions and visions, discursive resistance offers a critical means by which individuals can exercise agency by redefining their lives and recovering their harmed identities.

show abstract

Wombs at risk, wombs as risk: Fat women’s experiences of reproductive care

Cited by 44 publications

References 49 publications

Pregnant and postpartum women’s experiences of weight stigma in healthcare

Pregnant and postpartum women’s experiences of weight stigma in healthcare

Between blame and care: women's ‘needs talk’ about obesity interventions in prenatal care

“I'm Just a Woman Having a Baby”: Negotiating and Resisting the Problematization of Pregnancy Fatness

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About