A qualitative insight into the experience of self-oriented body comparison in postpartum women

Abstract

The postpartum period is a high-risk time for body image disturbances among mothers, given the rapid physical, emotional, and environmental changes experienced. Sociocultural pressures for postpartum women to quickly return to their pre-pregnancy weight and shape are both well documented and associated with disordered eating symptomatology; however, no studies have qualitatively explored self-oriented body comparison postpartum, the experience of comparing one’s postpartum body weight and shape to pre-pregnancy weight and shape. This study qualitatively examined postpartum women’s body image while they engaged in self-oriented body comparison. Thirty-two women, (M_age= 31.62; SD=3.78) years, 87.5 % white, 96.9 % partnered, 84.4 % straight, and 96.9 % with a high school diploma or higher) participated in an expressive writing exercise in which they described their body image while engaging in self-oriented body comparison. Overall, women described their postpartum body image as multidimensional and dialectical, as they often held multiple attitudes towards their body at once. Women highlighted dimensions of their body image unique to the postpartum window and described the impact and salience of body image in their current view of self. Findings contribute to improved understanding of postpartum body image and self-oriented body comparison, inform development of future postpartum body image measures, and could ultimately guide the development of evidence-based guidelines for prevention of negative postpartum body image and associated disordered eating behaviors during this critical period.