by Trish Wilkinson
“Well, if nothing else, we can use it as a chips and salsa bowl…”
…a client’s husband about his wife’s belly cast
Women are celebrating pregnancy in so many ways. I thought I was being imaginative and creative when I picked out my baby announcements years ago … from Hallmark. Mike and I did do belly pics in our firstborn’s nursery, with my shirt pulled up, with the ceiling light blaring down. Nowadays, it’s amazing the choices that women and their partners have to celebrate and display the stages of their pregnancies … professional photos, henna painting, temporary body jewelry, pregnancy modeling … the list is endless.
I joined the creative bandwagon, and began doing pregnancy belly casts. My doula mentor, Cathy Thorpe, did casting, and gave me an impromptu lesson on the craft. I was nervous about it … it seemed too creative to me, and I wasn’t sure how women would receive the idea. My first victim was my business partner, Alicia, who was expecting her fifth and last baby. It turned out to be fairly quick, virtually painless (we learned pretty quick to have moms use the bathroom BEFORE beginning!), and relatively easy. I cast both her belly and breasts. Alicia luckily did not expect me to do the decorating of the cast. She ended up painting it with a bronze metallic paint … it was beautiful! And being it was a torso, it was simple to transport as a visual aid in classes and presentations…we got lots of double takes when I would seatbelt it into the front seat of my van, and puttered through town.
Since then, I offer belly casting as a regular part of my practice. It’s not surprising that either women really love or hate the idea. The biggest question is always “what will I do with it when it’s done?”. Again, people have gotten so creative and imaginative with decorating the cast. Some leave it in the raw form, and take pictures of the newborn inside of it (see picture). You can also paint, decoupage, or dye the cast. When a mom is not sure what she is going to do, I refer her to a gallery of finished casts on www.proudbody.com … it’s incredible the themes people come up with to finish up the cast.
Casting a pregnant belly can be a participatory activity. I’ve often had dads, and even older siblings, join the fun. The quote at the beginning was spoken by a dad after we had shimmied (yes, literally shimmied) the cast off of his wife. We had laid it belly down on their dining room table, and were just standing there admiring it. He then quipped the unforgettable line, and his wife and I just looked at him, bursting out laughing. Whenever I think about that, I picture a party where either guests think it is the greatest conversation piece of all times, or they run screaming from the room. Either way, it would be a party people would never forget.
Belly casts are a wonderful visual to capture the pregnancy months. If you decide to have one done, have fun with it, and be prepared to be greasier than you have ever been. However, it does leave your belly super soft … Crisco does have its benefits!
Trish Wilkinson has been married for 24 years and is the mother of two boys ages 18 and 14 (first born by unplanned cesarean; the second was a VBAC). A child and family therapist for 15 years before becoming a doula in 2001, she started Tree of Life Doula Services and Birth Resources in 2005 and has attended more than 250 births, including cesareans. She is a certified doula through Doulas of North America, as well as licensed clinical social worker for the state of Illinois. She is a regular contributor to chambanamoms.com.