Exteroceptive and Interoceptive Bodily Experiences Throughout the Perinatal Period

Pregnancy brings about significant physical changes over a relatively short period of time, influencing how women feel about their bodies, and their internal bodily signals known as interoception. The bodily experience during pregnancy, encompassing exteroceptive experiences such as body dissatisfaction and interoceptive experiences, understandably changes. Despite this, there is currently very little research into how these changes may influence mother and infant outcomes before and after birth. The main aim of my thesis was to investigate the relationship between pregnancy bodily experiences and postnatal outcomes such as maternal mental health, bonding and breastfeeding.

Following a thorough review and evaluation of the current knowledge in this field presented in Chapter 1, and before examining how the pregnancy bodily experience influences postnatal outcomes, Chapter 2 aimed to establish how body dissatisfaction and interoception relate to antenatal outcomes. Network analyses indicate that a lack of trust in internal bodily signals, and dissatisfaction with body weight during pregnancy negatively influence antenatal outcomes. Chapter 3 established relationships between pregnancy body dissatisfaction and postnatal mental health and bonding, using a cross-sectional design to develop a retrospective measure of pregnancy body dissatisfaction. Chapter 4 further confirms these connections using a longitudinal design and network analysis to investigate the pregnancy bodily experience and outcomes at 3- and 6- months postpartum. Finally, considering yoga as an intervention with potential to target the bodily experience, Chapter 5 presents a systematic review of current literature investigating the influence of yoga on postnatal maternal mental health and well-being. Chapter 6 consolidates all findings and concludes by highlighting key implications and directions for future research.

The research undertaken in this thesis underscores the importance of considering pregnancy bodily experiences. This in turn may help to identify mothers at risk of poorer postnatal outcomes, inform interventions and enhance the wider theoretical understanding of pregnancy experience.