Second (and third) bumps are bigger

TESTS show a woman’s bump is significantly smaller for her first baby than later pregnancies. Actress Isla Fisher, 40, married to comic Sacha Baron Cohen, is a case in point. Her first bump, in 2007, was small; her second in 2010 larger, and her third in 2015, carrying baby Montgomery, positively blooming.

This is down to pregnancy hormones and abdominal muscles.

As soon as a woman gets pregnant, her levels of the female hormone progesterone increase. This, in turn, causes bloating and may make the stomach swell long before the womb has increased in size. This happens more quickly in second and third pregnancies.

A swelling uterus also causes abdominal muscles and ligaments to stretch, and though these constrict again after the birth, they’re left permanently loose. This means they’re more elastic the second time around. ‘The abdomen can become more pendulous after the first baby, making the bump appear bigger,’ explains Angela Cook, a midwife with 24 years’ experience.