Exploring the relationships among weight stigma, weight bias internalisation, feeling fat, and self-esteem across preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum

While sources of weight stigma differed by reproductive stage and between Western and non-Western contexts, WBI consistently mediated how these experiences related to both feeling fat and self-esteem. Interventions should target stage-specific stigma sources while addressing WBI as a key mediating mechanism to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for PPP women.