Transport for London’s ‘baby on board’ badges have become a hit, designed to prompt other passengers to give up their seats for pregnant women. This transformation of pregnancy into a public literal badge of honour indicates a very different attitude to pregnancy than in the past. There was a time when pregnancy was considered a private phase that would-be parents would only share with close friends and family, and when even maternity fashions were designed to disguise. Now, baby bumps themselves seem to be fashion accessories. The trend perhaps started with actress Demi Moore, but has taken off, with greater numbers sharing every intimate moment of their pregnancy, including pregnant bump pics, on social networking sites. 

Perhaps such developments should be welcomed as liberating, certainly progress from women being ‘confined’ for nine months, a step forward from any embarrassment about pregnancy. But this public demonstration of women embracing their pregnant identity also has its reflection in a greater public policy focus on the fetus, perhaps at the expense of the mother’s freedom. The pregnant may be out and proud, but the intense policy focus on the potential harm of women’s lifestyle choices on the health of future citizens can make pregnancy a burden. The discussion on alcohol in pregnancy is telling: despite there not being a single piece of scientific evidence to support the advice, women are constantly told not to drink at all during their pregnancy. And many feel obliged to submit to overstated official advice on this and other matters as a display of virtue to accompany the ‘baby on board’ badge.

Should pregnant women be left to make their own lifestyle decisions without policy interference? Or should there be strict guidelines from government and the medical profession to direct women to be better safe than sorry? What does autonomy mean when there is a life other than your own to consider? If today’s pregnant women are willingly prepared to give up everything for the sake of their unborn child, is this a modern version of confinement?