There is more pressure than ever before for women to spring back into their pre-pregnancy shape once they've had a baby and for some it's hard to resist.
The situation's not helped by the proliferation of celebrities gracing the gossip magazines looking svelte and totally gorgeous while pushing their newborn in the park.
Now a top US fitness coach has said she would rather adopt than give birth because she wouldn't be able to cope with what pregnancy would do to her body. But is this a healthy attitude to have?The remarks Jillian Michaels made to Women's Health magazine, and reported by Fox News, have caused uproar amongst mothers while experts say they give an insight into the celebrity trainer's view of her physique.
"I'm going to adopt. I can't handle doing that to my body," Michaels tells the magazine. "Also, when you rescue something, it's like rescuing a part of yourself."
What's puzzling is you would expect a fitness guru to be best placed to cope with the physical changes involved in pregnancy. She's hardly inspiring; if she couldn't cope with them, what chance do the rest of us have?
Blogging mothers have hit back at Michaels' remarks with Catherine Connors, author of the blog "Her Bad Mother" believing Michaels has revealed a basic disgust for the biology of pregnancy.
"Now, obviously – obviously – Jillian Michaels is not, shall we say, cerebral," Connors writes. "Indeed, she makes her living working with sweat and sinew and all those gym-towel-stinky let's-get-physical things – she makes her living working with bodies – so why should she, of all people, be put off by the messy physicality of pregnancy?"
Fellow blogger and author Kirsten Chase is also fed up with the opinion of the fitness trainer, whose "30 Day Shred" plan helped her lose 40lbs.
She writes: "Now I'm not at all surprised that someone so entrenched and successful in the fitness business would have latent body issues.
"You don't need to be a psychotherapist to figure that out. And sure, being an adoptive parent is heroic and admirable. It's also not something to be taken lightly, as we have seen with the Tennessee mom who sent her young adopted son back to Russia alone on a plane."
Dr Leslie Seppinni, a family therapist and clinical psychologist based in LA, believes that if this is how Michaels does feel, she should get counselling before advising others on body image issues
"She is teaching people about body image and self-esteem. Women who have children all the time and get right back in shape particularly if they exercise," she said.
Not everyone, however, believes Michaels' comments are a big deal. One blogger believes women are more intelligent than to scupper their fitness plans after reading Michael's views.
What do you think? Do you think Michaels has an unhealthy attitude towards the effect pregnancy has on a woman's body or is she just being honest?
Source: Parentdish US