Cersei’s Pregnancy Belly

Published April 27, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hi Guys!

Love the show. I did find it a little funny to listen to a group of men discuss pregnant bellies at length. As a woman who spent the last five years of my life either pregnant or breastfeeding my three sons, and a pregnancy/childbirth educator, I couldn’t resist the chance to weigh in.

If this were real life, Cersei would almost certainly be “showing” while in the nude.

First, this is her fourth baby (or fifth if we remember the baby who died which we learn about in season one). After carrying a baby, the abdominal wall gets much weaker and women “show” sooner with subsequent pregnancies. I doubt the women of Westeros are doing intense abdominal exercises or gettin six pack abs between pregnancies, so we can surmise this general rule of popping earlier is true for Cersei. Every woman is different, but most pregnant mothers are noticeably changing by 12-16 weeks.

Second, Lena Heady is quite thin, and her firm uterus would likely be more visible than a woman who has more fat on top of the uterus. It would be easy to hide in flowing robes, especially if she carries low or has a small baby. But it would be obvious to a sexual partner.

Third, no one knew alcohol was harmful to unborn babies until the later half of the twentieth century. I doubt the women of Westeros have that kind of medical knowledge. Let’s stop referencing her wine intake as a judge of whether or not Cersei is pregnant.

Fourth, women don’t usually know they’re pregnant until 4-6 weeks after conception. So she was probably in her second month by the time she told Jaime about the baby.

BUT- this isn’t real life. There’s every indication the pregnancy is legitimate. I think it’s a stretch that Euron wouldn’t notice her growing belly. Maybe he’s an idiot. Or maybe it’s just a show, and we have to suspend reality a tiny bit. If we can buy into dragons, we can certainly get past hiding a pregnancy a little longer than normally possible.

Thanks for reading this! I’m sure I’ll enjoy all your episodes through the end of the series!

Kate

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