Why doesn’t my baby bump show?

For women carrying extra weight, a developing foetus may have enough room to grow “sideways” and so the much anticipated baby bump doesn’t swell into view until later in the pregnancy, if at all.

Weeks and months go by and your belly doesn’t become rounder, even though you are regularly gaining weight and your pregnancy is going perfectly well. Here are some possible explanations for this phenomenon, which generally affects overweight women, and some advice on how best to handle your disappointment.

Where is my baby bump?

Aside from denial of pregnancy, which may physiologically impact foetal development and an expecting mother’s body shape, another situation can cause pregnancy to go virtually unnoticed, and that is excess weight.

• Firstly: when a woman’s body mass index (BMI) is superior or equal to 26, she usually puts on less weight during pregnancy than a woman with a normal BMI does. Doctors recommend limiting weight gain in order to reduce medical and obstetrical risks: between 7kg and 11kg for BMIs in the 26-29 range and between 6kg to 7kg for BMIs over 29.

• Secondly: and which results from the first – the few pounds gained during pregnancy add only a little bit of additional weight to pre-pregnancy weight, and are therefore less visible, including around the stomach area.

• Thirdly: and this is the most important one – overweight women’s foetuses often have ample room to grow in, and occupy, the space widthwise, which is why the belly doesn’t become round.

I need my baby bump!

Women may experience pregnancy, and especially their first one, as something almost unreal. Antenatal scans and the baby’s movements in the second trimester often help pregnant women become aware of what’s going on inside of them but aside from these events, the size of their bellies is the main indicator of their status as “mothers-to-be” and the only way to for her to actually witness the evolution of the unborn baby.

If the baby bump isn’t showing, women may have a difficult time committing themselves to their pregnancies. This is especially true because most people view round bellies as the symbol of maternity and physical evidence that all’s well. Psychiatrist and nutritionist Bernard Waysfeld recognises that future mothers whose pregnant bellies are hardly visible often fear that something’s wrong with their pregnancies.

A swollen belly is also what grants expectant mothers a seat on a crowded bus, what makes the future father proud and arouses the curiosity of friends. In a word, overweight women can be frustrated by a “non-existent belly”. “Overweight patients sometimes expect to recover their status as women through their pregnancies, thinking that their round bellies will attenuate their obesity and make them appear “thinner” for 9 months. They hope pregnancy will render them attractive again and allow them to reassert their sexual identity,” says Dr Bernard Waysfeld. This is especially true in a society which has made pregnant women into icons of sorts.

In short, overweight women who thought pregnancy would make them “normal” can find themselves marginalised again, deprived of their femininity as no one can even tell that they are pregnant.

Getting your unborn baby into the limelight

You should invent your own ways of showing that you’re pregnant. And some very simple tricks can do the job: wrapping a cloth band around your lower stomach to emphasise your belly; wearing tee-shirts with messages printed on them, such as 'It’s a girl'; or sharing photographs of your baby scans instead of snapshots of your not-really-growing tummy.

The most important thing is that you live your pregnancy to the fullest, and for yourself. Here are a couple of other ideas: running a blog in which you give regular updates on your ongoing pregnancy; interact with your unborn baby through touch, speech and emotion, and encourage your partner to share those precious moments together.

If you’re despondent about the lack of baby bump, to the point that you can’t feel the joy of being pregnant, you might want to seek counselling from a psychotherapist who will help you restore a more satisfying self-image than that reflected by people around you. The quality of the relationship you’re forming with your child over the course of your pregnancy will definitely benefit from how good you feel about yourself and your pregnancy.  

Source: Interview with psychiatrist and nutritionist Bernard Waysfeld

Lucie Emile

Copyright © 2010 Doctissimo

Posted 02.12.2010

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