Corsets

In a desperate attempt to achieve the ideal, some women had their lower ribs surgically removed.

"Corset diseases" such as fainting, hemorrhoids, coughing, and palpitations plagued many fashionable women.  Corsets could displace internal organs and cause pulmonary disease, and occasionally led to miscarriages. They were eventually replaced in the 1930s by less constricting, but still  reshaping, girdles. Wearing corsets while your pregnant: http://pinterest.com/corsetra/maternity-and-nursing-corsets-through-history/ Pregnancy: Culturally, pregnancy during the victorian era was a taboo, essentially confining a woman to home during the time she  was "showing" . As a consequence, tightlacing was sometimes used to extend the period of time that expecting mothers were able to present themselves socially or for work This  was or is safe because, during the first two trimesters the fetus is very small and well protected by the amniotic fluid  from the higher intra abdominal pressures. Although a pregnancy was often unintentionally concealed well past the 1st trimester due to regular tightlacing, women who were aware used this to  their advantage to conceal their pregnant state. By continuing tightlacing, they could be five to six months pregnant without showing a noticeable expansion,  allowing them to continue their activities outside the home. During the last trimester  the maternity corset (right) would be relaxed, accommodating the growing abdomen, while supporting it. For pre-marital expecting mothers, the corset offered and still does a safe solution to conceal the first few months, avoiding embarrassing questions during the wedding. For the remainder of the pregnancy, modern (left) maternity corsets are recommended as they provide valuable upward support and greatly reduce  fatigue. In the classic maternity corset, additional lacing adjustments allowed for the abdominal  expansion, without forgoing the upper body training . In particular young women,  who had invested considerable time and effort in training, were unwilling to forgo all this during pregnancy, and remained tightly corseted as long as they could tolerate.   Once expansion would start, the lacing would gradually be relaxed to retain a reasonable comfort level. It was not uncommon to deliver with the corset still laced-on,  but then it was only to support and limit the discomfort from over extending the ribs.  Another reason for extending corset wear was to avoid stretch marks. Women who  laced through the 6th month showed considerably fewer marks than those lacing  3 months or less. (Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics By The American College of Surgeons, Franklin H. Martin Memorial Foundation - 1913) Reducing "time-off" for maternity leave, by means of corseting is practiced again today by a number of actresses, e.g. Helena Bonham Carter concealed her condition allowing her to continue to play her role in Anne Boleyn in the historical TV drama Henry VIII. Other modern actresses have (and are) doing the same. In Indonesia women have and still do practice very tight body binding immediately after delivery in order to restore the body to it's natural shape. These bindings are as tight as a corset.