Pregnant women are being bombarded on social media with Photoshopped images and dangerous myths about exercising in pregnancy, leaving many feeling fearful and confused, experts will warn at next weekend’s Baby Show in Olympia, west London.

The exhibition, billed as the biggest pregnancy and parenting event of the year, will feature speakers and gadgets aimed at helping pregnant women to exercise safely and get back into shape after birth.

“In an ideal world, we wouldn’t be surrounded by Photoshopped images of celebrities four weeks after they’ve had a baby, looking like they were never pregnant,” said Philippa Kaye, a GP who will be one of the speakers at the event. “That Instagram-filtered world isn’t reality.”

There is a huge amount of pressure on women to get back into shape quickly after giving birth, and this can lead to injury. “I have seen women take it too far at the gym before and after pregnancy, and it’s caused problems,” she said. “If you never did any exercise before you got pregnant, you don’t want to start with high-impact training or a military boot camp in the park. It’s too much.”

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