Yummy mummy tattoos

What makes a yummy mummy? Bouncing back to your pre-pregnancy figure? Glowing hair and perfectly manicured nails? The latest Prada handbag and Christian Louboutin shoes? Or perhaps a strategically placed piece of body art, worshipping your child and marking your status as a mother?

Regardless of what you think of them, tattoos are becoming ever more popular amongst women, a trend which, like the artwork itself, is likely to last a very long time.

• Is it Angelina's fault?
• A work of art?
• Or tattoo much?
• A prickly issue
• Risky art
• Things to do before you tattoo

Is it Angelina's fault?

The art of tattooing has been around for at least 5000 years but, prior to the late nineties, most people considered them a masculine pastime favoured by sailors and bikers. Now however, the number of women choosing to tattoo their skin is rising significantly, so much so that it's almost become a fashion necessity.

Perhaps this is partly due to the surge in beautiful female celebrities proudly displaying equally beautiful works of art tattooed on their skin. Society, influenced by the media portrayal of skinny celebrity mothers, says to be a good mother, you need to be a good-looking mother and while not all of us can (or want) to leave the maternity ward sporting size zero, pre-pregnancy figures, any one of us can get a tattoo.

Hannah Aitchison, a tattoo artist on LA Ink says, "It's a way to say, 'I'm a mum and I'm still cool'.

Not much research has been conducted in women and tattoos, but Tony Lawrence, a graduate from the University of Edinburgh, interviewed tattooists and found that most believed the main reason for women being tattooed was fashion. He said, "Many famous pop stars and actors have tattoos and people see them on these influential people and want the same."

And it seems he's right. Love them or hate them, women like Angelina Jolie and Victoria Beckham have beautiful looks, beautiful children, beautiful husbands…and beautiful tattoos.

Angelina, at the last count, had 13 tattoos, most recently the geographical coordinates detailing the countries of birth of each of her children.

During her pregnancy she proudly displayed her bump tattooed with the Latin motto, "Quod me nutrit me destruit" meaning "What nourishes me also destroys me" but speaking of her tattoos she said, "A tattoo is something permanent when you've made a self-discovery, or something you've come to a conclusion about."

Victoria has five star tattoos on her lower back representing herself, her husband and her three boys, and more recently has said she is going to have a fertility symbol tattooed on her inner thigh to help her conceive a baby girl.

In fact all of the Spice Girls - icons to thousands of women during the era of 'Girl Power' - proudly sport artistic tattoos.

And it doesn't stop there. Even Barbie has had a tattoo. A doll launched in 1999 came with a butterfly on her stomach and temporary stick-on tattoos for the little girl who got her.

But tattoos aren't just for modern women. It became fashionable in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for aristocrats, including women, to be tattooed and even Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, had a snake tattooed on her wrist.

A work of art?

So what kind of artwork are women choosing to have? Somehow the idea of anchors, as sported by Popeye, doesn't conjure up the idea of a yummy mummy.

Tony Lawrence found in his research that many designs are chosen as aesthetically pleasing and feminine such as tribal ankle bracelets, flowers, love-hearts, cute animals or oriental symbols.

As well as this, women tend to put a lot of thought into where they want their tattoos, with ankles, shoulders and lower backs being the favourite positions, usually so they can be hidden by clothing and shown when required. Even Lady Churchill covered hers with a bracelet when she didn't want it seen.

Or tattoo much?

So can you have too much of a good thing? Many lovers of tattoos say it can become addictive and while for some this means having three or four small tattoos, others take it much further. The claim to be the world's most tattooed woman is shared between Canadian Krystyne Kolorful and American Julia Gnuse, both with 95 per cent of their bodies adorned with permanent artwork.

And in 2004, 32-year-old mother of three, Beth Evans, endured four sittings of what she described as agony having all 4 members of Westlife tattooed on her back.

A prickly issue

Despite its rise in popularity, people - especially mothers it seems - are divided in their opinions of tattoos on women. A casual broaching on the subject in the babyworld forums led to a hot debate.

Katy said, "I can just about tolerate some on fellas but not on women," which prompted Samantha to ask "I'm not a big tattoo fan either, but why not on women, but ok on men?"

Others openly admit they hate tattoos - on anyone! Kaye says, "I hate tattoos - I think they look awful regardless of who has them and where they are and I would never have one." And Rachael apologetically adds, "I am not a fan of tattoos - even tiny little ones that are discreet and hidden. I just don't really like them sorry."

But the most uproar was caused by Dobie who claimed, "I think tattoos look common and chavvy. I would never have one and I think they make women look like tramps."

Despite this, many Babyworld mums are proud to have their own tattoos, a lot of which, like Angelina and Victoria, have special meanings close to their hearts.

Emma says, "I have had O.A.K written on the bottom of my back, about 3 inches high, which stands for my children's names." Chell's tattoo is "a protection symbol with my son's name and his date of birth. I got it as a way of permanently keeping my son with me."

Kerry gave birth to her daughter in June and has already had her name tattooed on her shoulder. She describes her tattoo as "Lily-Jai, with a flower coming out of a heart next to it. The flower represents my daughter being born out of love (the heart)."(pictured left)

Kazz already has a tattoo from her honeymoon (see right), done when she was two month's pregnant and she's now planning her next - and final - tattoo. "I'm designing my next one to go on my spine. I'd like to have a vine with leaves off-shooting and have all my kids names included on those leaves."

And even more mums are planning on honouring their children. Amy says, "I plan on getting a tattoo with my sons name on it, something nice and simple." And Hayley wants, "to have the kids' names in Hebrew on the inside of my wrists."

Risky art

Apart from ending up with your ex-boyfriend's name tattooed on your body - aka Pammie Anderson who ended up changing 'Tommy' to 'Mommy' after her divorce - are there any risks associated with tattooing?

Well, while not everyone agrees, some say yes, there are risks for people in general and expectant mothers in particular.

The problem lies with low back tattoos - a favourite amongst women. 2002, a pair of Canadian anesthesiologists published a report that questioned whether administering an epidural through lower tattoo could be risky.

Krzysztof Kuczkowski, chief of obstetric anaesthesia at the University of California San Diego Medical Center, found that labouring women experienced unusual burning, tenderness and swelling where the epidural catheter had been placed.

However, chief obstetric anaesthetist William Camamm said women with lower back tattoos needn't worry as long as the ink has fully dried and the wound is healed.

Unfortunately, there is little, if any, legislation governing tattoos. The Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union (TPI) is currently calling for a standard of professionalism accredited by the industry, along with a standardised licensing policy across the country that can be enforced in a uniformed manner.

Naresh Bhana, President of the TPI, hopes this will offer protection to both the artists and the consumers. However, he adds, "In the mean time, check an artist's work record and verify that they have worked for at least one year as a professional in a registered or licensed studio."

Things to do before you tattoo

There are some general rules that everyone should follow before having a tattoo and some others specifically directed at pregnant and breastfeeding women.

• Check qualifications - make sure your tattooist is a reputable practitioner registered with the Department of Health. Ask to see examples of their previous work and never let anyone other than a reputable tattoo artist work on you.
• Hygiene - check that the tattoo studio is licensed by the local authority. Local authorities will only grant the licence if the parlour complies with their conditions which include standards of cleanliness and hygiene. The parlour should publicly display its license so if you don't see it - ask.
• Be sure of what you want - Removing a tattoo can cost up to three times more than the design itself and can be a long and painful process that usually leaves a scar. One of the most common reasons for tattoo removal is to get rid of an ex's name, like Angelina when she split from Billy Bob Thornton. She swore then that she would never have another man's name tattooed on her body.
• No room for errors - if you want something profound in a foreign language such as Hindi (the Beckhams) or Latin (Angelina) then make sure you have your spellings correct and, in the case of languages with different alphabets, make sure the letters are correct. Some languages just don't translate well from English. For example, in Hebrew lettering, the same set of characters is used to mean "human" as well as "husband", so a tattoo that is supposed to your love for your husband could easily end up meaning "I love my human".

If you're pregnant or breastfeeding

Most tattooists in the UK won't work on pregnant or breastfeeding women as there has been no research into the potential damage the inks could do (some is absorbed by the body and could therefore be passed through to your baby). The FDA has just started two research projects investigating if tattoo dyes can be dangerous, but at the moment there is no regulation for the dyes and inks used.

Another reason most artists won't tattoo pregnant women, especially if they are having a first tattoo, is because many people faint when they get tattooed and tattooists aren't willing to take that risk with a pregnant woman. Similarly, they don't want to risk the shock of the procedure bringing on labour.

There is also a slight risk of contracting Hepatitis C or some other communicable diseases, especially in less than hygienic salons, which can be passed on to your baby.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women do tend to have a slightly lower immune system due to the demands on their bodies, and tattooing can cause a slight slump in the immune system. However, although there has never been a documented case of a tattoo causing complications in a pregnant or lactating woman, most artists prefer to advise mothers to wait until after pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Where to next?

• Pregnancy topiary - what do mums-to-be do 'down there' before birth?
  
• You gotta' laugh - pregnancy and parenting provide plenty of opportunity for mirth. Enjoy these cringe-worth moments!
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