152: Body Image in Pregnancy and Postpartum

Jun 10, 2019

I first heard today’s guest when she appeared on Rebecca Scritchfield’s Body Kindness podcast, and I couldn’t wait to get her on the show! We’re talking about body image in the perinatal period and why we should be talking more about it. We’ll discuss her research, the roles of self-compassion and mindfulness, and some wonderfully helpful resources.

Dr. Jennifer WEbb is an associate professor in the Department of Psychological Science and a core member of the Health Psychology Ph.D. program clinical faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She received her baccalaureate degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Harvard, went on to complete her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychologist at the University of Southern California, and did her postdoctoral fellowship training in Clinical Health Psychology at Duke Integrative Medicine. Her research program is informed in culturally and body diverse groups. Her particular emphasis involves the enhancing of the integration, dissemination, and accessibility of evidence-based, mind-body approaches to strengthen embodied self-regulation, positive body image, and wellbeing among women during the developmental transitions of young adulthood, pregnancy, and the postpartum.

Show Highlights:

• How researchers are playing “catch up” in the field of body image and how it’s affected by mood and anxiety during milestone periods
• How negative body image 3 months postpartum and during pregnancy can increase the chances and severity of depressive symptoms later on
• The definition of body image: how we think and feel about our bodies, how they move, and how they function
• The impact of sociocultural pressures and the media and social media messages that we get during pregnancy and postpartum times
• Western notions of what pregnancy and postpartum body should look like: a narrow portrayal, thin ideal, and a constrained approach
• Why we need more cross-cultural research across diverse groups of women
• Obsessiveness around body image can even come from well-meaning healthcare providers
• The concepts of body surveillance and disordered eating
• The importance and impact of conversations with healthcare providers, which offer a huge opportunity to help with the reframing process
• A “health at every size” perspective and non-dieting, weight-neutral understanding
• Fighting against the “get your body back” messages that our society gives women during the postpartum
• How researchers define the elements of positive body image:
  • Appreciating and accepting the body as it is
  • Respecting the body through active self-care
  • Protecting the body from negative messages
• What it means to show acceptance to ourselves and our bodies as we go through changes
• Lisa Rubin’s research on women during pregnancy and how appreciation for our bodies can help during pregnancy and postpartum and become a lifestyle commitment
• How mind-body practices can help
• How Jennifer’s research suggests that mindful self-care was negatively related to negative body image and depressive symptoms in a sample of women
• Other ways to support women: intervention work, collaboration, guided self-help, and a focus on wellbeing and not diet culture

Resources:

Body Kindness by Rebecca Scritchfield

Breathe, Mama, Breathe by Shonda Moralis

Mindful Motherhood by Cassandra Vieten

Books by Dr. Marjit I. Berman

Expecting Mindfully by Sharon Salzberg, Sherryl H. Goodman, and Sona Dimidjian

Body Confident Mums`