Many people are understandably sensitive when it comes to other people’s opinions on their bodies, especially since offhand comments can be easily thrown at you unexpectedly and at times unwarranted. Pregnant women often get left on the receiving end of such words from people who tend to forget just how inconsiderate it is to comment on someone going through so many physical and mental changes during pregnancy.
Which is exactly what one Redditor mummy-to-be felt when she was given “insensitive comments” at work about her pregnant body. Her recent post garnered attention in the new Reddit Baby Bumps thread where she wrote, “Today at work I was told that ‘I have the weirdest pregnant lady body.’ And that I’m ‘getting wide.’ I’ve got a thick skin, but I can’t say my feelings weren’t a little hurt.” Unfortunately, this is just one example of the many horrible things people have to say to someone pregnant.
Reddit user harleyroyaltea found she wasn’t alone as more Redditors shared their own woes of insensitive and rude comments they’ve received, shedding light to the horrible “body-shaming” pregnant women experience.
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Redditors Reveal The Most Horrible Things To Say To Someone Pregnant
1. “One of my coworkers told me they knew I was having a girl because she had stolen my beauty.”
User babybrain469754 wrote that while her coworker thought her baby had already “stolen” her beauty, she humorously added, “…well at least she thought I had beauty previously!”
2. “My husband said his favourite part of a woman is a flat stomach.”
Often, you would go to your partner for comfort, but Reddit user Deej_Mc shared how her own husband “said his favourite part of a woman is a flat stomach.” The user went on to say, “I cried for two hours. I was 24 weeks at the time, and I had just asked him if he prefers boobs or butts since I felt like my booty and boobs were looking pretty good from the weight gain and was trying to be flirty.”
3. “…a family member lectured me on how I needed to lose the baby weight and more as soon as possible.”
After apologising to harleyroyaltea for receiving such a horrible comment, sentimentalmama shared her own experience and wrote, “— as I vomited shortly after labour, with a room full of about 20 people when I wasn’t ready for visitors, and no one checked on me or helped me with such vomiting, a family member lectured me on how I needed to lose the baby weight and more as soon as possible, and another commented that I took ‘too long’ labouring and my poor husband needed to eat (while pulling him outside the room to eat a sandwich). It was awesome! (If not obvious, I’m being very sarcastic in my last sentence.)”
To assure other mummies-to-be, the Redditor also wrote, “Pregnancy and labour bring on such insane uninvited comments from people sometimes.”
4. “Who do you know that is having a baby?”
It might just be the worst when someone doesn’t realise you were pregnant in the first place as per Redditor havingababypenguin‘s own shopping experience where she wrote, “Nine months pregnant buying baby clothes. Cashier, ‘Awh who do you know that is having a baby?’ Me, ‘I am both fat and pregnant.'”
5. “You’re pretty big, aren’t you?”
Also sharing a horrible experience at work, butters510 wrote, “The conversation went something like this: ‘I didn’t even know you WERE pregnant, I just put 2 and 2 together when you kept saying you were going to the doctor.’ 5 minutes later, same person: ‘You’re pretty big, aren’t you?’ Well, I’m gonna say no, since you didn’t even notice until just 5 minutes ago, idiot.”
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6. “You’re ready to pop!”
It was to deedeemckee‘s surprise when she wrote, “Last time I got a lot of ‘You’re ready to pop!’ when I was only seven months along. One girl even said, ‘but you’re so big!’.” The Redditor said she “wasn’t actually hurt by the comments,” but “more so just shocked” that people would say something like this.
7. “I could tell because your clothes fit you different.”
Aside from Lowkeylawyer‘s husband always saying “ehhhhh! Onaka dekai!” which they wrote “literally translates to big stomach” whenever he touches the baby bump, the Reddit user also added, “An acquaintance approached me and asked if I was pregnant when I was around 20 weeks. And when I confirmed I was, they had to add, oh yeah I could tell because your clothes fit you different.”
The Redditor ended it with a relatable thought saying, “I hate people commenting on my body during my pregnancy so much.”
8. “Are you sure you’re not expecting twins?”
25 weeks into the pregnancy, user Theno2pencil shared her own experience writing, “Nothing special, just the ‘wow, you’re REALLY pregnant,’ and we bantered on about how I’ve actually got quite a few months left to go, then a change of subject, and then a few sentences later ‘Are you sure you’re not expecting twins??'”
The Redditor went on to add, “I totally thought I was immune to this and thought it would almost be cute?? Haha in a way the awkwardness IS comforting bc at least I’m getting some acknowledgement that I’m pregnant, no matter how not-tactful it is! But it’s also.. awkward and makes me feel weird. Like gee, thanks. I’m not THAT big yet.”
9. “Wow, that’s going to be a big baby”
An “indirect hit” could be as painful according to cocoririlou who wrote, “I get the indirect hit bc they’re trying to be nice: ‘wow, that’s going to be a big baby’ from my mom and best friend”.
10. “Looked like sh*t”
Redditor plan-on-it also had an experience of such harsh words as she wrote, “I had a male director at work joke on Friday that I ‘looked like sh*t’. This was immediately following a 3-hour ultrasound where I raced back home to rejoin my zoom sessions.”
The Reddit user continued with, “He actually choked on his drink when responded that I wasn’t surprised since I’m 24 weeks with Twins and feeling a little off these days 🙂 I bet he’s real nice from now on.”.
11. “Any day now?!?”
More horrible comments poured including icepacket‘s experience as they shared, “Back when I was pregnant a guy at the gas station said ‘any day now?!?’ And I was only 7 months pregnant with my first…”
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