The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Weight stigma in maternity care: women’s experiences and care providers’ attitudes
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Weight stigma is pervasive in Western society and in healthcare settings, and has a negative impact on victims' psychological and physical health. In the context of an increasing focus on the management of overweight and obese women during and after pregnancy in research and clinical practice, the current studies aimed to examine the presence of weight stigma in maternity care. Addressing previous limitations in the weight stigma literature, this paper quantitatively explores the presence of weight stigma from both patient and care provider perspectives. METHODS: Study One investigated associations between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and experiences of maternity care from a state-wide, self-reported survey of 627 Australian women who gave birth in 2009. Study Two involved administration of an online survey to 248 Australian pre-service medical and maternity care providers, to investigate their perceptions of, and attitudes towards, providing care for pregnant patients of differing body sizes. Both studies used linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Women with a higher BMI were more likely to report negative experiences of care during pregnancy and after birth, compared to lower weight women. Pre-service maternity care providers perceived overweight and obese women as having poorer self-management behaviours, and reported less positive attitudes towards caring for overweight or obese pregnant women, than normal-weight pregnant women. Even care providers who reported few weight stigmatising attitudes responded less positively to overweight and obese pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results provide preliminary evidence that weight stigma is present in maternity care settings in Australia. They suggest a need for further research into the nature and consequences of weight stigma in maternity care, and for the inclusion of strategies to recognise and combat weight stigma in maternity care professionals' training.
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“Midwives may lack the confidence to raise the issue of obesity and fear a hostile response from women that they are trying to form a professional bond with 112 , 117”
From Overweight, obesity and excessive weight gain in pregnancy as risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes: A narrative review (2022) · cites this paper as [117]
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“and, with high workloads and time pressure, it can be difficult to maintain an awareness of unconscious bias around obese women and implement personal strategies to overcome that bias. 117 , 118”
From Overweight, obesity and excessive weight gain in pregnancy as risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes: A narrative review (2022) · cites this paper as [117]
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“Midwives may lack the confidence to raise the issue of obesity and fear a hostile response from women that they are trying to form a professional bond with 112 , 117”
From Overweight, obesity and excessive weight gain in pregnancy as risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes: A narrative review (2022) · cites this paper as [117]
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“Those conversations may be compromised by ingrained weight stigma among health professionals, which training programmes need to overcome. 117”
From Overweight, obesity and excessive weight gain in pregnancy as risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes: A narrative review (2022) · cites this paper as [117]
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Cites
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“Power analyses indicated that 159 participants were required to have an 80% chance of detecting medium effect sizes [31], thus the analyses were collapsed across medical and midwifery pre-service care providers to maximise power.”
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“Healthcare providers respond differentially to patients on the basis of their body size [9].”
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BackgroundConfronting and Coping with Weight Stigma: An Investigation of Overweight and Obese Adults
Puhl, R. M., & Brownell, K. D. (2006) · Obesity · doi:10.1038/oby.2006.208 · Cited by 1,041 · cited 2×
“There is a demonstrated detrimental impact of negative weight-related health treatment, and weight stigma more broadly, on psychosocial wellbeing [3,4,33] and health behaviours [5,7].”
BackgroundPuhl, R. M., Andreyeva, T., & Brownell, K. D. (2008) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/ijo.2008.22 · Cited by 900 · cited 1×
“Weight stigma is the fourth most common form of discrimination in the United States, and studies from Australia, Europe and North America document its presence across a range of professional settings [2].”
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“In light of evidence that higher BMI is associated with more negative treatment in general healthcare settings [11,29], it was expected that women with a higher prepregnancy BMI would perceive less positive and more negative treatment from maternity care providers.”
BackgroundThe prevalence and impact of overweight and obesity in an Australian obstetric population
Callaway, L. K., Chang, A. M., McIntyre, H. D., & Prins, J. B. (2006) · Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00115.x · Cited by 634
Obesity stigmatization and coping: Relation to mental health symptoms, body image, and self-esteem
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“Possible incidences of negative treatment are of concern in light of the potential harmful consequences of weight stigma for larger women’s psychosocial wellbeing and health [3,8,33].”
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“, [46,47], yet a lack of information about experienced stigma among this group.”
Background
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Stillbirths: recall to action in high-income countries
Flenady, V., Wojcieszek, A. M., Middleton, P., Ellwood, D., Erwich, J. J., Coory, M., Khong, T. Y., Silver, R. M., Smith, G. C. S., Boyle, F. M., et al. (2016) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(15)01020-x · Cited by 667
Langley‐Evans, S. C., Pearce, J., & Ellis, S. (2022) · Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1111/jhn.12999 · Cited by 288
“Those conversations may be compromised by ingrained weight stigma among health professionals, which training programmes need to overcome.(117) Midwives may lack the confidence to raise the issue of obesity and fear a hostile response from women that they are trying to form a professional bond with(112,117) and, with h…”
BackgroundPuhl, R. M., Lessard, L. M., Himmelstein, M. S., & Foster, G. D. (2021) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0251566 · Cited by 233
“Australian studies have also documented associations between weight stigma and lower engagement with healthcare providers [33], and reported weight stigma across different medical disciplines [34,35].”
BackgroundPregnant and postpartum women’s experiences of weight stigma in healthcare
Incollingo Rodriguez, A. C., Smieszek, S. M., Nippert, K. E., & Tomiyama, A. J. (2020) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-020-03202-5 · Cited by 124
Overcoming Weight Bias in the Management of Patients With Diabetes and Obesity
Puhl, R. M., Phelan, S. M., Nadglowski, J. F., & Kyle, T. K. (2016) · Clinical Diabetes · doi:10.2337/diaclin.34.1.44 · Cited by 129
Metadata
- Authors
- Mulherin, K., Miller, Y. D., Barlow, F. K., Diedrichs, P. C., & Thompson, R.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- University of the West of England (GB)
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mulherin, Kate
- Venue
- BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
- Published
- 2013-01-22
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 19-19
- ISSN
- 1471-2393 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3577669
- OpenAlex
- W2165869962
- Cited by
- 193
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 22.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- UWE Research Repository (UWE Bristol) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- University of Queensland
- Queensland Government
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- weight stigma, obstetric care, overweight in pregnancy, obese pregnant women, body mass index, patient experience, maternity care providers, self-management behavior, health professions education
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Attitude of Health Personnel, Australia, Female, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Maternal Health Services, Obesity, Pregnancy, Prejudice, Professional-Patient Relations, Quality of Health Care, Self Care, Stereotyping, Body Mass Index, Linear Models, Qualitative Research, Overweight, Self Report
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