Oh Baby!

I never knew it was trendy for pregnant women to make plaster models of their bare stomachs until I worked at the Healthy Baby Project in D.C. for my service-learning project. I didn't think this would really be such a huge hit with pregnant women, but after simply typing "Plaster Pregnant Belly" into Google, there were 34,500 hits. Instead of Plaster of Paris, try a specific kit from "Proud Body Pregnancy Art."

There was a belly casting about to go down when my service learning group was there. As we correlated papers, midwives cut strips of plaster. I looked to the other guy in the group with shock. Were they going to make us help with this? Luckily, none of the group had to help with this.

I was confronted with the painted plaster version of pregnant ladies' upper areas hanging on the walls, and sitting on chairs. They were in the hallways, rooms, and still being done every few months for pregnant women. Apparently, they tried setting the artwork outside of the building once. That caused traffic congestion.

As I looked upon these unique pieces of art, I started thinking of what some of the most creative women would have painted on their plaster stomachs. Mickey Mouse's head on the belly? Maybe a recreation of Michaelangelo's "Creazione Di Adamo."

I am also still wondering about these children when they grow up, especially the guys who have their future girlfriends visit their parents for the first time. Would this be hanging on the mantel? Or worse, would the mom just skip embarrassing photos and bring his plaster embodiment down from the attic to show what he looked like before he started crying and stuffing Cheerios up his nose?

Although others may think this is cute, I am hoping my future wife will be OK with just a photo--as opposed to a 3 Dimensional replica of the pregnancy.

Comments

[Erica]

Wow. I've never heard of anything like that before. Very interesting.

[Marcus]

"Or worse, would the mom just skip embarrassing photos and bring his plaster embodiment down from the attic to show what he looked like before he started crying and stuffing Cheerios up his nose?"

That seriously made me laugh out loud. I have to say...this practice is just a little creepy.

[Kacee]

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I used a different kit by Eternal Maternal and did one of these when I was pregnant. It was really cool and, really, very special. My cast is hanging in the nursery now. Will it still be in my daughter's room when she's 12? Probably not. Not sure what I'll do with it then but, in the meantime, it really is an awesome reminder that I once had an entire human being inside of me.