20 weeks scan fat shamed

Have a look at the heavy weight midwife on Instagram and Facebook to advocates for plus size women and pregnancies

My 1st pregnancy I felt fat shamed the whole way through especially by sonographers! I felt fearmongered throughout and I wish I had educated myself and advocated for myself more ! Reccomend the insta account above and also plussizepregnancy . I'm pregnant again and luckily my experience so far has been so different this time, now I'm in my final weeks I'm on guard to battle any negativity coming my way 😅🤣

Sorry to hear you had a rubbish experience. I am a high BMI pregnancy but I have never been made to feel that my “extra tissue” is an issue. They have been kind about how they word my scans and never made me feel fat or overweight. They’ve always asked if they can apply more pressure or lift my tummy pouch. We did experience a snippy sonographer in the beginning but we were trying to record the scan so we were being naughty 🤣 You may hear “because of your bmi we suggest” but from what I have researched there is nothing our “high bmi” bodies cannot do compared to “normal bmi” bodies nor should be restricted based on bmi.

So I was never told directly it was an issue but in every single scan report they mentioned my BMI making the scan difficult, even though I never needed a rescan and all scans were quick and didn’t seem an issue 🤷‍♀️

It’s the first ever scan report that has mentioned my BMI, my 12 week scan was done really quickly and well baby was smaller and no issue with my “BMI”😂 Thank you for all your comments I’m finding it reassuring to know it’s not just me.

i was told this all the time. midwives told me i would have a complicated pregnancy, it would be hard to see her on a scan, i would get GD, and my baby would be huge. she was born 7Ibs 9, bang average weight, delivered naturally with no complications, i always saw her on the scans and my pregnancy was smooth! i understand they have to mention the risks associated with a high BMI pregnancy, but sometimes it really does feel like they’re shaming you. your husband should absolutely have his questions answered as well. sometimes baby’s just don’t cooperate or won’t stay still and they cant get all the measurements and angles, but don’t let it deflate you! your body is doing the most amazing thing, high BMI or not!😘

I lost a ton of weight and looked like a scarecrow during my pregnancy (this is def not a brag, it was awful with wrinkles and spider viens popping up, and my postpartum depletion gave me unexplained rage) and during scans, they mentioned several times that my lack of belly fat should make the scans easier, and yet we still couldn’t get a clear view of the heart during any of the scans. So, it truly doesn’t matter what size you are if the baby isn’t cooperating! She turned out fine

Every scan notes contain “obstruction in images due to high BMI” I’ve not had the sonographer say anything to me in person but this gets me everytime!! The midwives have also signed me up to all sorts of other appointments because they presume due to my weight I’m not eating healthy/will get diabetes/have to have a C section etc etc!! Tests I’ve had done have proved them wrong so far so I’m just taking it in my stride proving them wrong 😅 I’ve had comments made pre pregnancy too as I’ve had endometriosis & PCOS so under gynae where EVERY appointment would start with “you need to lose weight”. It’s so unnecessary and really does kick a girl down!! Chin up 🥰😘

That's messed up, and totally uncalled for. They were probably just using that to cover up the fact that they just weren't very good at their job.

@Katie yeh very similar the month before I fell pregnant my GP “loose some weight and we’ll see you back in 11 months for IVF referral” The scan just upset me because baby wasn’t complying and instead of just sitting with that it was my weight not because she wanted to save face in-front of the other person that she was training in the room…

@PJ we have both had that thought 🫣😂

Thank you all for the comments it’s made me feel better about it all. I was worried I was being sensitive but maybe my upset was rational from hearing all this. I feel a million times less upset now though at least in two weeks we’ll get to see baby again

I had a trainee performing my 20 week scan who was also getting frustrated because baby wouldn’t comply, she’s was moving all over the place and again like you he was getting funny about “I can’t get here it’s too big” but luckily the person training him was lovely and made him realise it was him not me!! Could have been a very different situation had it not have been for her being there. I was told outright before trying I wouldn’t even be referred as my BMI didn’t hit their score, when I found out their ideal BMI for me I honestly would have been ill at that size it was so low. It’s crazy that I’m hearing plus size women are going to special plus sized clinics for her IVF due to the fat shaming and ignoring from the NHS

@Katie annoyingly the trainer was the one who made the comment about me as she was demonstrating to the trainee how they expect it to be done.

That’s soo bad!! What gets me is the people shaming sometimes aren’t exactly thin themselves…😏