Understanding Antenatal Interoception: Assessment, and Associations with Body Satisfaction and Wellbeing

Pregnancy involves substantial physiological and psychological change, yet the relationships between interoception, body dissatisfaction, and antenatal mental health remain under-researched. This thesis examines the embodied experience of pregnancy through a series of quantitative, behavioural, psychometric, and mixed-methods studies. It features a comprehensive meta-analysis evaluating body dissatisfaction trends across existing pregnancy literature, alongside a critical evaluation of current interoceptive measurement frameworks. The empirical chapters focus on adapting, validating, and developing psychometric and self-report tools tailored specifically to the unique gestational context. By evaluating differences in bodily attention, trust, and emotional reactivity between pregnant and non-pregnant cohorts, this work aims to provide new theoretical and methodological insights into how maternal bodily experiences are reorganised during pregnancy. Ultimately, this research highlights the clinical and academic importance of employing pregnancy-specific approaches to measurement to better understand and support antenatal mental health.