MIL Starts Drama Over Pregnant Woman Wearing A Bikini As It’s Making Her Husband Nauseous

Nowadays, pregnancy clothes aren’t a problem. “It’s now relatively easy to find maternity swimwear online and in-store, whether that’s a one-piece or bikini,” writer, director, broadcaster, and creator of the parenting blog Honest Mum , Vicki Broadbent, told Bored Panda . “However, many expectant mums often size up on their usual swimwear to save money and to get longer wear out of it. It’s entirely the pregnant woman’s prerogative on what they choose to wear however months pregnant they are, and otherwise.”

It’s usually us who make things awkward and uncomfortable.

“Something odd seems to happen in pregnancy with some people as they either become excited or triggered when they see pregnant women,” Broadbent said. “Some [examples] are understandable (for instance, if they’d suffered a loss) but there’s a lot of entitlement that comes with witnessing [and] spending time with those who are pregnant, be it offering unsolicited advice from food choices to how to raise your unborn baby, to touching the bump without asking.”

Unfortunately, Vicki, who is a mom of three herself, has experienced this firsthand, too. “Whilst pregnant with my first two, I had strangers, both times, touching my bump, without asking first, in public spaces like the supermarket. They simply reached out, and had they asked, it would have been a firm no. Thankfully, I was pregnant during the pandemic with my third child so I didn’t get close to strangers. Well-meaning or otherwise, once you become pregnant or have a child, particularly your first, everyone and their gran seem to think they have a duty to advise [and] lecture you.”

Broadbent calls this backseat parenting. “If advice is asked, give it but don’t provide it unsolicited, and keep your opinions on dress code and anything else relating to personal choice, to yourself. It’s someone else’s baby and body, remember that.”