“The Pressure to Do It All”: Qualitatively Exploring Body Image, Eating Attitudes and Mental Health in Postpartum Women

Findings demonstrated the complexities that mothers experience and emphasised that the postpartum period is a time of personal transformation and growth, as well as considerable vulnerability toward the development of adverse physical and psychological outcomes. Mothers continue to experience body image dissatisfaction, are too time-poor to eat healthily and are cognitively burdened by increased responsibility. So what? Significant attention and robust resources are needed from healthcare providers to mitigate these likely outcomes, offer preventative strategies to decrease risks to psychological health, and normalise mothers' experiences.