Celebrities, The Media and Pregnancy

Today Megan Fox released pictures/arranged a photo shoot to show off her gorgeous baby bump and she looks stunning (these pictures are from the Pop Sugar site).
This has become news as a) it is Megan Fox b) she is gorgeous and c) because up until today she has not confirmed her pregnancy and by the look of the pictures she must be around 5 months – or maybe even 6.
Yes I know the celebrities have bucket loads of money and court the media but I feel terribly sorry for them as the media hound them and speculate over them if they think for a second they are pregnant – which is what has happened to Megan for months now.
As soon as the media suspect they are pregnant (or if someone has had a big lunch) they start running stories and photos about ‘is so and so pregnant?” and the magazines actually do whole features on a raft of celebs and I think poor Katie Holmes has been ‘pregnant’ for about three years and Jennifer Aniston must be rivalling Octomum now for how many kids she has if the media were right every time they claimed “pregnancy”.
I don’t know why everyone becomes soooo fascinated with guessing if celebrities are pregnant and I think it must be so hard to protect your privacy when they do become pregnant and I don’t blame them for hiding their news. The other issue with all women in pregnancy is the risk of miscarriage and with 1 in 4 women miscarrying the risk can be high and it is a very personal subject that must be hard to protect from the media as when a celebrity miscarries there are media stories everything about it.
And with the pregnancy comes the inevitable speculation about how much weight they will gain – Jessica Simpson is a case in point where her pregnancy weight gain was documented week by week – and now we are bombarded with stories about her trying to lose 26kg in 5 months to cash in on a $4m Weight Watchers Cheque!
Even with my own pregnancy (I am now just over 3 months) someone said to me last week “you will put on much more weight on your second – you will be much bigger – just letting you know”.  Uhh thanks for that. I just don’t see the fascination women have with other women gaining weight in pregnancy.
As long as you don’t put yourself into the obese and unhealthy weight range who cares how much weight you gain. In my first pregnancy I actually didn’t weigh myself for the last 6 months and I haven’t weighed myself at all in this one as I really don’t care. I care more about eating enough to have energy, giving into my cravings so I am not cranky and in general enjoying my pregnancy and making sure bub has enough nutrients.
Ah well, I doubt the media will ever change so such is life I guess but if you are currently pregnant or just had a baby – remember not to compare yourself to the celebs as their lives are a million miles apart from ours and the pressure they have on them to lose their pregnancy weight is ENORMOUS and rather than being able to enjoy the first few months with their new baby they are often on a strict weight loss and diet plan to lose the weight in record time as the media will be sure to splash pictures of them everywhere if they don’t. Money definitely isn’t everything!!
So if you have had your bub and are wanting to lose weight – only do it when you are ready which may be over 12 months after the birth and make sure you do it in a safe and healthy way – and if you need help please see our own post baby health and weight loss plans here