Can This Model Really Be 8-Months Pregnant?

Photo by Sarah Stage/Instagram

At eight months pregnant, most women can hardly see their toes. But one model is turning heads this week for her barely there baby bump, even though she’s expecting a little boy in April.

Sarah Stage has been documenting her pregnancy on Instagram for months, posting photos of herself primarily in lingerie and bikinis. A photo she posted a week ago, wearing a bra and underwear, set off some alarms with her followers, who could barely make out a bump beneath the six pack abs. “She needs to feed that baby instead of worrying how to keep her figure,” writes @sariahh913. And from @mm.rose: “That’s not even healthy.”

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Photo by Sarah Stage/Instagram

Stage, who tells Entertainment Tonight that she has gained 20 pounds so far in her pregnancy, says she is staying fit through exercise. “I still have a trainer, but I was working out a lot harder before the pregnancy,” she says. “I’m definitely not dieting. I love my In-N-Out burger.”

As for her baby’s health, Stage says there is nothing to worry about. “The doctor says my baby’s healthy,” she says. “All my girlfriends that are pregnant now, their bellies are a lot bigger so I asked him and he started laughing and he’s like, ‘you’re fine.”

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The baby is currently measuring 5 pounds, Stage wrote on Instagram, and while some followers weren’t convinced, others voiced their envy. “Why am I bigger than this at 3 months though?” writes @roxycoco. “Let’s look like this when we’re pregnant one day,” adds @sjborrego.

But Dr. Amy Henriott, OB-GYN at Midwest Center for Women’s Healthcare in Evanston, Illinois, says that while Stage and her baby might be healthy, hers isn’t a body women should strive for. “It’s very possible that her pregnancy is completely normal, but that’s not the experience the majority of women have,” Henriott tells Yahoo Parenting. “There are only a handful of people who can look like that when they are pregnant.”

Henriott says that instead of wishing they had Stage’s body, women should focus on exercising for health during pregnancy. “The majority of women can and should be healthy and active and that’s still not going to be their body at 8 months pregnant,” she says. The problem with Stage’s pictures, Henriott says, is that they really aren’t about promoting health. “These pictures aren’t of her working out, they are pictures in her underwear.”

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Photo by Sarah Stage/Instagram

But as for the haters, Henriott warns that you shouldn’t judge a pregnancy from a picture. “You can’t assume there is a problem,” she says. “There are women who are just petite, who look very small when they are carrying, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong,” she says.

Stage says she’s trying to tune out the naysayers. “I’m just trying to stay positive,” she tells Entertainment Tonight. “It’s hard enough to be pregnant and to deal with all of this… I think all women are beautiful and especially pregnant women.”

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