Louisa Lytton on the red carpet
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OPINION: Louisa Lytton ‘hating’ her pregnant body is tough for wannabe mums to hear

It's a bit of a kick in the teeth for women desperate to have a baby

Pregnant EastEnders actress Louisa Lytton – who has just gone on maternity leave – is expecting her first baby with fiancé Ben Bhanvra.

However, far from embracing her changing body, Louisa has revealed she’s cried to her husband-to-be because she “hates” it.

While I’m in no way belittling her feelings, I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth to the many women, like myself, who have struggled to fall pregnant.

I know it’s easy to say having never been pregnant, but if I were lucky enough to actually grow a baby bump, I like to think I’d be jumping for joy and flashing it at every given opportunity.

Meghan Markle and her bump clutching would have nothing on me. Trust me!

Yes it’s incredibly sad that Louisa feels the way she does, but should she have stated it so publicly?

I’m not so sure…

Louisa Lytton pregnant
EastEnders star Louisa Lytton is pregnant with her first baby (Credit: Splash News)

So what did Louisa Lytton say about being pregnant?

Posting on Instagram, the Ruby Allen actress said: “I hate my body and I don’t like what is going on!”

What, that you’re growing an actual human being inside you, like so many women desperately want to be able to do too?

I’m guessing she didn’t mean it quite so literally, and to support that the irony certainly isn’t lost on the 32-year-old soap star.

Read more: EastEnders SPOILERS: What’s happening in Albert Square tonight?

Speaking on the Made by Mammas podcast, she explained: “You are pregnant so everyone around you feels like this is the best news possible.

“This is what you wanted so you should feel happy every day and not have any negative thoughts. And in my head I thought this doesn’t sit right.

“I am so happy that I am pregnant but I am so unhappy in many other ways.

“At first I had sickness but my body was changing and I wasn’t in control of the fact that I had no energy. Normally I am a really energetic person,” she added.

Throw in unhealthy food cravings and hormones and the usually slender star just wasn’t feeling herself any more.

Was a podcast the best place to air her views?

We’ve all been there. Whether it’s through pregnancy, illness, weight loss or weight gain, there have been times when our bodies have felt a little alien.

And we all talk to our friends and family about it.

Read more: Louisa Lytton ‘cancels’ wedding ahead of birth of first baby

But to air those views publicly, when it could be a trigger for other women, I must admit feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth.

Louisa herself admitted that she “felt terrible to be negative around the fact that I was pregnant when some people are trying”.

So why go on a podcast and open those opinions up to the whole wide world?

People with a platform should be more considerate

I’m not by any stretch of the imagination saying that pregnant women can’t feel unsettled and upset about the changes their body goes through during pregnancy.

It’s their body and they’re more than entitled to feel however they like about it.

But in an age where more women are focusing on their careers and trying for babies later on in life, when fertility falls, those with a platform would do well to be a little more considerate.

All I’m saying is spare a thought for those of us who would love a baby bump, would love to see our bellies growing, stretch marks, hormones, cravings and all…

And would love to know that, one day, our dreams of becoming a mum might just come true.

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor