You're standing in front of the closet in the morning, and nothing fits the way it did last month. The jeans won't button, and the one dress that still works is in the wash. A coworker told you yesterday that you've "popped," and you smiled, then thought about it for the rest of the day. You wanted this baby, and you still don't recognize the body in the mirror.
Body image during pregnancy is the way you think and feel about your body as it changes to carry a baby. If those thoughts have turned harsh, you're dealing with something common that rarely gets talked about. This post covers why body image issues during pregnancy show up and how to tell everyday discomfort from something bigger. You'll also find ways to cope that our therapists use with clients.
Anchor Therapy is a counseling center in Hoboken, NJ with mental health therapists specialized in helping children, teens, adults, couples, and families with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, trauma, life transitions, and more. Anchor Therapy is accepting new clients and is now providing in-person sessions and teletherapy sessions to residents of New Jersey, New York, and Florida.
Is It Normal to Struggle With Body Image During Pregnancy?
Yes. Your body is changing faster than at any other time in your adult life, and you get little say over how. Feeling uneasy or critical about those changes is a common response, even in a pregnancy you wanted. The time to pay closer attention is when the thoughts start running your day.
Body image issues during pregnancy can sound like:
"I look bigger, and nobody can tell I'm pregnant yet."
"Everyone else has a cute bump, and mine looks wrong."
"I'll never get my body back."
"I shouldn't care about this when the baby is healthy."
You're far from the only one thinking this way. In interviews with 20 pregnant women in Switzerland, researchers found that the women worried about weight gain and tried to monitor their diet. They often felt unsupported by their healthcare providers, and body image never came up as a topic at their appointments.
That last finding matters. If nobody at your appointments asks how you feel about your changing body, it's easy to assume you're the only one having a hard time.
These feelings can come and go. You might feel fine for two weeks and then have a rough morning after a photo or a comment.
At Anchor Therapy, we often hear this from pregnant clients in a lowered voice, as if it's a confession. They tell us they feel guilty for caring how they look when the baby is healthy. We hear it enough to know it's a regular part of pregnancy for our clients.
Why Body Image Issues During Pregnancy Show Up
Pregnancy asks you to hand over control of your body for most of a year. If you've put years into fitness or had a complicated relationship with food, that's a big ask. Your body starts making its own decisions, and you find out about them in the mirror.
A few things tend to make it harder:
The speed of change. Your body can look different from one week to the next.
Comments. Coworkers and strangers suddenly feel free to remark on your size.
The scale. Being weighed at appointment after appointment can stir up old feelings about numbers.
Social media. Bump photos and "bounce back" posts set a standard few bodies match.
Getting dressed. Every morning brings a reminder that your body is different.
Your history. Past dieting or disordered eating can resurface as your shape changes.
Prenatal care is full of numbers, from the scale to the measuring tape across your belly. Even a routine remark like "you're measuring ahead" can sound like a grade.
Comparison does its own damage. Every pregnant body carries differently, and your feed mostly shows the bumps that photograph well. Measuring yourself against them is a contest you were never meant to enter.
Comments deserve a closer look, because they come from every direction. One woman in the Swiss study described friends telling her "you've put on weight" and family telling her "you should do some sport." If a comment like that has stuck with you for days, your reaction makes sense.
Your history matters too. If you've had an eating disorder or spent years dieting, pregnancy can feel like losing the rules that kept you steady. That deserves its own support, ideally from a therapist who understands both pregnancy and eating concerns.
Sometimes the worry spreads beyond your body to the birth and everything after. If that's happening, our post on managing anxiety while pregnant is a good next read.
How Body Image Shifts by Trimester and Into Postpartum
How you feel about your body rarely stays the same for nine months. Here's the pattern our therapists tend to hear, though yours may look different.
First Trimester
Early on, you may feel bloated and worn out without looking pregnant to anyone else. Your clothes fit differently, and you might not be ready to explain why. This in-between stage can be one of the hardest, because the changes feel private and unexplained.
Second Trimester
Once the bump shows, some of the discomfort can ease. Your body now reads as pregnant, which can feel like permission to take up space. This is also when comments from others tend to start, welcome or otherwise.
Third Trimester
Late pregnancy brings physical discomfort along with the size. You might feel proud of what your body is doing and tired of living in it on the same day. Both reactions are common in the final weeks.
Postpartum Body Image
After the birth, the pressure flips. Messages about "getting your body back" arrive while you're healing and short on sleep. Your body spent most of a year changing, and it won't reverse in a few weeks. Postpartum body image deserves the same patience you gave your pregnant body, and the same support if it starts to weigh on you.
Is It Body Dysmorphia During Pregnancy?
Most of the time, what you're feeling is body image distress, which means disliking changes that are visibly happening. Body dysmorphic disorder is a separate diagnosis. It involves being preoccupied with a flaw that others can't see or barely notice, along with repeated checking or comparing that disrupts your life.
The two can overlap. If you've managed body dysmorphia for years, pregnancy can stir it up again, and a therapist can help you sort out which one you're dealing with.
Signs that point past everyday body image distress:
Checking mirrors or photos of your body many times a day, or avoiding mirrors
Thoughts about your shape that crowd out work or sleep
Skipping meals or cutting back on food to slow weight gain
Exercising to "make up for" what you ate
Dreading or avoiding prenatal appointments because of the scale
A past eating disorder that feels like it's coming back
If any of these sound familiar, tell your OB or midwife and reach out to a therapist. Eating too little during pregnancy can affect your health and your baby's. Please treat it as a reason to get help soon.
Why Do I Hate My Pregnant Body When I Wanted This Baby?
Because wanting a baby and liking every change to your body are two separate things. You can feel grateful for the pregnancy and miss your old body in the same hour. Grief over what's changing is a normal part of becoming a parent.
As therapists, we think guilt does the most damage here. When you scold yourself for a feeling, the feeling gets louder and you stop telling anyone about it. Then you're carrying the body image struggle and the secret.
Your sense of self is shifting too. You're becoming a parent while your body and your routines change at once, and it's a lot to take in. Missing the old version of you is part of that adjustment.
If this isn't your first pregnancy, you might be comparing this body to the one you had last time. Your body may show sooner or carry differently now, which can catch you off guard.
Try saying the mixed feeling out loud: "I'm glad I'm pregnant, and I miss my old body." Both halves are true. Saying them together tends to take some of the charge out of each.
How to Deal With Body Image During Pregnancy
In our clinical experience, what helps most is paying attention to what your body is doing and how it feels. That focus takes practice, and small daily habits make it easier.
A few places to start:
Wear clothes that fit today. Squeezing into old ones turns every morning into an argument with your body.
Ask about the scale. Find out whether you can face away or skip hearing the number at appointments.
Edit your feed. Mute accounts that make you compare, including the weekly bump updates.
Move for how it feels. A walk or a prenatal class your provider has approved can help you feel at home in your body.
Watch your mirror talk. If you wouldn't say it to a pregnant friend, try the sentence you'd say to her.
Decide about photos on your terms. You can skip the weekly bump picture, or take one for yourself and post nothing.
Name one thing your body did today. Carrying groceries up the stairs counts.
It can help to raise body image with your OB or midwife directly. In the Swiss study, midwives and dietitians said they see the topic as sensitive and try to be reassuring. You may need to be the one who brings it up.
Lines you can use when someone comments on your body:
"I'd rather not talk about my size."
"My doctor and I are happy with how things are going."
"Let's talk about something else."
"Thanks, I'm feeling good today."
If you have a partner, they can help more than they might realize. Most partners want to say the right thing and aren't sure what that is, so it helps to tell them what you need.
Ways your partner can help:
Asking what kind of reassurance works, since "you look great" doesn't always help
Skipping remarks about your size, including the kind ones
Coming to an appointment to hear what the provider says
Taking over a task on the mornings when getting dressed feels hard
Our post on handling pregnancy stress as a couple has more ideas for the two of you. For tools that apply beyond pregnancy, read our guide on how to overcome body image issues.
Go easy on yourself on the days none of this works. A hard body image day will pass.
When Should You Talk to a Therapist?
As soon as thoughts about your body are changing how you eat or taking up much of your day. Therapy also helps if you've had an eating disorder before, or if low mood has settled in alongside the body image struggles. You don't need to wait for it to get worse before asking for support.
There's a reason to take this seriously. A 2025 meta-analysis of 28 studies and 7,241 pregnant and postpartum women found that body dissatisfaction was consistently and moderately associated with perinatal depression. That's a link between the two, and the authors note that body dissatisfaction may come before depression or be one of the ways it shows up. Either way, how you feel about your body and how you feel overall belong in the same conversation.
Perinatal therapy gives you a place to say the things that feel off-limits everywhere else. In sessions, we work on the harsh self-talk and the fears underneath it, and we plan ahead for the postpartum months. Much of that work draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which helps you catch a harsh thought and test whether it's true. Our post on what perinatal psychotherapy involves walks through what to expect.
Our reproductive mental health counseling covers pregnancy and postpartum, including the body image concerns that come with both. You can read about each of our therapists on the Meet Our Team page.
Being Kind to a Body That's Changing
Body image issues during pregnancy are common, and they deserve more conversation than they get. Your body is doing something enormous, and you're allowed to have mixed feelings about it. Small habits help, and so does saying it out loud to someone who understands.
If thoughts about your body are taking the joy out of your pregnancy, we'd like to help. Anchor Therapy offers counseling in-person in Hoboken, NJ, and virtually for residents of New Jersey, New York, and Florida. Fill out the contact form below and our intake coordinator will get back to you.
Victoria Scala, LAC
is the Psychotherapist, Community Engagement Director, Office Manager, and Social Media Manager at Anchor Therapy in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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