Pregnancy can be a beautiful, interesting, challenging time in a woman’s life. On the one hand, you feel excited, ready and like a gorgeous testament to how amazing the human body is. On the other hand, you can feel enlarged, frustrated and of course, sick to your stomach. Not only can pregnancy affect a woman’s physical body, but it can also affect her hormones, causing her to feel happy, sad or even angry all in one moment.
All of this stress and change in such a short amount of time can severely hamper your self-esteem. It can be difficult to feel confident in a changing body that’s larger than normal, moves differently and has weird side effects every day. In a lot of ways, it can even feel like you’re not yourself anymore. How can you stay confident and maintain a positive self-image during such a challenging time? Fortunately, there are definitely ways to stay positive and feel good about yourself throughout these next few months. Here are some tips for how to boost your confidence during pregnancy.
One of the most beneficial ways you can continue to boost your confidence during pregnancy is to find others to share in your struggles with. Your significant other or spouse can definitely be helpful during this time, but chances are they’re probably not going through all the same emotions, thoughts and physical challenges as you are. While confiding in them matters, try to find others you can share with, as well.
Get a good group of girls together to chat with, or even focus your efforts on meeting with a group of other pregnant or nursing women. This way, you can share your struggles and self-confidence issues with them, and know that they have had the first-hand experience to connect with you. Ask for their advice or words of encouragement to help you feel more confident in your new body.
When your self-confidence falters during pregnancy, it can also be tempting to stay at home, watch television and avoid any human contact. After all, pregnancy is exhausting enough in and of itself, right? While being a recluse might be a tempting offer, this can be extremely damaging to an already vulnerable self-image. Be sure to keep doing all the same things you love during pregnancy for as long as you can, such as going to work, spending time with others, practicing your hobbies, etc. Investing time in things which bring you joy and fellowship will naturally help boost your self-esteem and make you feel ready to take on the world with your new little one. Not only will getting out and about help you feel more confident, but it can also help you avoid even more serious issues, such as depression.
When going out, focus your energy on eating well and exercising. This might seem unnecessary, or even overemphasized, but a healthy diet and exercise during pregnancy can actually do wonders for your overall self-esteem. You might already feel terrible during most of the pregnancy (morning sickness, ugh), but eating healthy food and working out occasionally can actually help you feel less terrible. Just think: if poor diet and exercise make your body feel gross when you’re not pregnant, how much worse can they affect you when you are pregnant? The better you feel inwardly, the better you can also feel outwardly, giving you an extra boost of self-confidence when you need it the most.
Another important tip to help boost your confidence during pregnancy: find what makes you feel good, then do it. If doing your hair and makeup gives you a little extra pep in your step throughout the day, then do it. If buying clothes that fit you well and show off your belly helps you hold your head a little bit higher, then go for it. Or, if taking some time to relax, self-care and refocus through a bubble bath helps you feel better, then take a bath every single day. Find whatever makes you feel happy, loved and confident, then get into a consistent habit of it.
Recognize that your beauty and self-worth is not in your physical appearance, but your inward one. Your body has become a vessel to grow, nurture and deliver a child into the world. The little extra weight you gain, the way your body changes, when your hormones go crazy—all of this is part of a very important process. Therefore, find confidence in what your body can do, not in what it looks like.
Finding confidence during such a new and challenging time in your life can be difficult, but definitely not impossible. Surround yourself with a good support system, take care of the health of your body and do what makes you feel good about yourself, and you’ll find your self-esteem surge over the next few months.