When you become a new mother, there are many things you need to consider. Pregnancy is already a tough journey to navigate, especially for first-time mothers, without every other person trying to interject with their personal opinions.
But no matter what culture you belong to, you will be subjected to many intrusive questions – sometimes by strangers, sometimes by friends who are just curious.
From one pregnant mummy to another, here are some questions you should be prepared to answer:
7 common questions new mummies should prepare for
1. When’s your due date?
This is by far the most common question pregnant women get – whether you’re a first-time mum or not. Whether or not you know the person asking the question, you don’t have to give an exact answer if you’re not comfortable with that. You can always give a vague answer like “later in the year” or name a month, rather than giving exact dates. After all, as pregnant women ourselves, we don’t know the exact due date! Babies come whenever they want.
2. Is it a boy or a girl?
Again, it isn’t necessary to answer this question, especially since is a personal matter. If both you and your spouse don’t even want to know the gender of the baby, then it should remain a surprise. You don’t need to answer this question if you feel uncomfortable doing so.
3. Have you prepared everything for the baby yet?
I actually don’t mind this question too much as it is a practical, non-intrusive question that people can ask without offending the parents. It’s also a good opportunity for them to ask if the parents would like them to buy a gift for them that they don’t already have.
4. Which hospital are you delivering at?
Prepare for judgement no matter the answer. Whether you’re going to be delivering at a private or a government hospital, you will be facing a lot of unwarranted opinions from those asking the question. But stay confident in your choice and don’t get swayed too easily
5. What are you going to name your baby?
This question can go either way. You could either be very certain of your baby’s name and want to share it with the world, or you might be totally uncertain and want to keep it a secret till the baby is born. No matter where you stand on your baby’s name, this is a very common question you get asked!
6. How much weight did you put on?
This is an annoying one. Many “kepoh” Asian aunties tend to ask this question. It is very personal and almost offensive. But you can get away with answers such as “not much”, “just a little” or if you’re being very honest, you can give them a figure. However, if you need to know, the normal range for women to put on weight during pregnancy is between 10-20kg. Some women put on less, some will put on more.
7. How big is the baby?
As you progress in your pregnancy, the chances of someone asking this question gets higher. At 20 weeks, I had someone ask me if I was already ready to pop. I didn’t realise that my posture was partly to blame for that. Because of the weight of the baby, I was subconsciously arching my back and pushing my belly forward. This would have resulted in backaches in the long run if not for someone recommending that I wear a pregnancy belly band.
The belly band I decided to try was the Love Cradle Maternity Support Belt (Prenatal/Postpartum) by Bmama Maternity.
This is actually the first belly band I have tried and since trying it, I feel my posture has improved tremendously since the Bmama support belt comes with great support for the back. It is also surprisingly cooling and sweat-wicking.
I also like that it comes in black, while most other belly bands tend to come in pink or beige. Beyond just helping to support my back, it also helps to “lift” my belly a little, so the weight is not so burdensome.
It is highly recommended that Asian mummies wear belly bands to support the weight of the baby since we tend to have smaller waist sizes (though I am really happy that the Bmama belly band comes in sizes up to XL!). The belly band offers this kind of support, especially when mummies are carrying big or heavy babies.
At 30 weeks, my baby was already estimated to weigh 2.5kg, so the belly band did my body a huge favour. With the daily usage of the belly band and weekly prenatal massages, I didn’t experience any back pains or pelvic pains throughout the pregnancy until the very end when it was time to deliver.
It’s great value for money considering the belly band only costs RM75!
To check out the full range of Bmama’s maternity belly bands, visit their website here.
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