The female body when pregnant has always been treated as something to conceal as if it isn’t going through the most beautiful experience. Much of the tendency to consciously and unconsciously enforce modesty on expectant mothers is rooted in our belief that from here on women should be solely seen as paragons of virtue and softness by being fully transformed with hardly any care for who the woman was prior to her pregnancy. Think of it as forever having the famous line used by many Guyanese parents, “Wah people gon say” whispered into your ear.
Other motivations for modesty are sometimes rooted in people’s belief that any sort of belly showing excitement could attract ‘bad eye’. In my husband’s culture (Moldovan) it is uncommon to even have baby showers or see any amount of zealous fanfare during the nine-month wait. Even the purchasing of baby clothes is discouraged.