A comment my nurse made when I was 25 weeks pregnant disgusted me

"She judged your body. To the people calling you sensitive, it’s perfectly okay to be sensitive. You are pregnant."

Eleanor Katelaris

2 min read

May 15, 2024 - 3:22PM

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Jen* was 25 weeks pregnant when she was "fat-shamed" at a routine checkup by a nurse.

The mum-to-be says she was 63.5 kg before falling pregnant and is now 76.2kg, and the nurse made sure to point this out at the appointment in a not-so-subtle way.

"She seemed really eager to point out that the last time I had an appointment, I was 72.6 kg and in a month, I had gained '10 pounds' (4.5 kg), when in reality it was eight pounds (3.6kg)," she wrote to a parenting forum.

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Image: iStock

Two digs in one conversation

Jess says she knows that the nurse was "just rounding up" but says "it didn't seem right" to say 10 when it was actually eight.

The comment triggered her, as she was already feeling self-conscious about her weight gain, having previously had an "athletic" physique.

The conversation got even more uncomfortable when the nurse told the woman that walking 1.6km on her lunch break was "not a lot."

Hitting back at the dig, the expectant mum ranted to the group: "Well, no s**t, but it’s better than sitting all day and not walking at all?"

Upset and feeling vulnerable, the mum-to-be said she was "fat-shamed" and mentioned that she doesn't drink soft drinks or eat fast food and always chooses healthy snacks.

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"You are allowed to be sensitive"

Hundreds of women took to the comments section to empathise with the woman, with one saying: "Seems like a normal weight gain. Bit much for the nurse to be so blunt and weird about."

A second added: "To the people calling you sensitive, it’s perfectly okay to be sensitive. You are pregnant. You are allowed to feel whatever it is you feel. I would’ve straight up asked her if this is something I would need to be concerned about since she’s pointing it out and that way you’d have clarity."

A fellow pregnant woman said that she recently changed doctors because hers wouldn't stop mentioning her weight gain.

And another reassured her that walking that amount is "decent" for a pregnant person.

"People think they have the right to comment on your body when you're pregnant," one person wrote. "It's just a no-go zone. Mind your business. You're growing a human."

Were you told to watch your weight when you were pregnant? Tell us about your experience in the comments on Facebook.