“Trust yourself and your body”: advice from fat individuals on how to navigate fat fertility, pregnancy, and birth

ABSTRACT

Weight stigma contributes to healthcare-related stress and can make pregnancy difficult for people in larger bodies who are frequently denied reproductive healthcare treatment or receive poor quality care. Support from similar others – those who have experienced the same stressor – is particularly useful for navigating these challenges. Our goal in this study was to solicit advice from fat individuals who have tried to conceive, been pregnant, or had a baby. Survey responses from 150 people included 225 units of advice. We used content analysis to code the advice into 10 types that fell under three main categories: intrapersonal advice, communication advice, and social support advice. The two most prevalent pieces of advice were to trust yourself and your body (n = 57) and find an inclusive provider (n = 56). Based on our results, we suggest finding fat-affirming and inclusive providers, seeking nourishment rather than a restrictive diet, engaging in joyful movement, and connecting with a community of other fat individuals.

KEYWORDS:

• Fat
• pregnancy
• fertility
• postpartum
• advice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/21604851.2023.2248364.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Erin D. Basinger

Erin D. Basinger (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is also a Core Faculty Member with the Health Psychology Ph.D. program and the Health and Medical Humanities program. Dr. Basinger studies how people cope with health-related stress, and her recent work has explored contexts including type 2 diabetes, pregnancy, sexual health, depression, and chronic illness. She also does advocacy work surrounding the role of weight stigma in the healthcare system.

Margaret M. Quinlan

Margaret M. Quinlan (Ph.D., Ohio University) is a Professor of Communication and a Core Faculty Member of the Health Psychology Ph.D. Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Quinlan is the Director of an Interdisciplinary Program, Health & Medical Humanities. Her research explores how communication creates, resists and transforms knowledges about bodies. She critiques power structures in order to empower individuals who are marginalized inside and outside of healthcare systems. Additionally, her scholarly work explores the organizing of health care resources and work opportunities for people with lived differences.

Audrey M. Curry

Audrey M. Curry (B.A. University of British Columbia) is a Master’s student and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research interests are in health communication, life sciences, and sustainability.