Reanna Stephens, an 18-year-old American teenager, has been taunted and harassed about her pseudo-maternity, which is marked by an almost flat belly at 6 months of pregnancy.
She shares her story to show others that pregnant women can be different while staying healthy.
Pregnancy or simulation?
Reanna, a 18-year-old teenager and 6-month-old pregnant, says she has had many hurtful comments about her almost flat belly since her acquaintances know about her pregnancy.
Reanna felt compelled to justify the fact that she was indeed pregnant by sharing clichés revealing the evolution of her pregnancy. Although this would sensitize other pregnant women who may differ depending on their size, diet or metabolism.
She explained that she had been forced to speak out publicly after strangers commented extremely hurtfully about her assuming her pregnancy was simulated.
She says it's a combination of her vegetarian diet and lifestyle that involves yoga and cardio exercises that kept her almost flat at 6 months of pregnancy.
She goes so far as to say that her baby is growing every month and enjoys a completely natural development, and that her flat stomach is in no way connected to the health of this one or hers.
A flat stomach
Small, big, round or narrow, each pregnant belly is one of a kind. As a rule, it is only from the 10th week of pregnancy that the belly begins to slightly round. In some cases, this may last until the 19th week of pregnancy.
But of course, there are some peculiarities, in some pregnant women of 6 months, we could believe that they will soon give birth, while for other pregnant women of the same stage, we can hardly see that they are pregnant.
Various factors can intervene, such as the physical form of the mother, her lifestyle, her height, her weight, her posture or even the position of the baby who can have more room to develop; it therefore occupies the abdomen in its width which means that the belly does not take a round shape forward.
But this last factor, can cause unfounded anxieties in the future mothers. They may feel a certain disappointment to the extent that the belly represents the strong sign of motherhood and the omen that everything is going well.
Pregnancy and vegetarian diet
Whether in our daily life or as part of a pregnancy, it is necessary to adopt a healthy and balanced diet. As is the case with Reanna, some pregnant women resort to a vegetarian diet that is not incompatible with their pregnancy, even though certain nutrients excluded from the vegetarian diet are necessary for the proper development of a fetus.
However, it is possible to reconcile pregnancy and vegetarian diet and avoid any deficiency in the mother and child by replacing excluded foods such as fish or meat, eggs, dairy products, cereals and vegetables rich in vitamins, fatty acids and proteins.
It's all about eating high-calcium foods like sardines and almonds, and vitamin B9 like spinach or salad with vitamin C-rich fruits for iron absorption.
In any case, it is essential to inform your doctor of any changes or changes in dietary habits that occur during pregnancy so that your child adapts their follow-up and recommendations to pregnant women, who are all different.