'My baby bump photo went viral. But not in a good way.'

While pregnant, mummy blogger Meg Ireland did what many expecting women do – she posted ample snaps of her growing bump to social media. What happened next was truly shocking.

The now mum-of-two was appalled to find her pregnancy photo littered across an area of the Internet she’d never heard about: the disconcerting world of preggophilia porn.

For those who are unaware, preggophilia the fetishisation of women who are with child. According to preggophilia.com, the sites provide a forum for “admirers of pregnant women”. These range from “Pictures of pregnant teens” to “Pregnant celebrities” and “Belly expansion photos”.

For Meg, finding her photos on a porn website used without her knowledge or permission, was inexplicably sickening.

“I see so many people upload their bump pics and now I just gasp and hope to god they don’t get into the hands of someone they shouldn’t,” the writer warned her Instagram followers. “We shouldn’t have to worry about people stealing our photos, but unfortunately it happens ALL THE TIME! When I was scrolling through this god awful site trying to find where this thread was, I saw some pretty f**ked up sh*t.”

A photo posted by Meg (@shutupmeg91) on Jun 13, 2016 at 2:19am PDT

“People who were uploading pictures of their wife to other users, brother in laws uploading pictures of their sister in laws and women uploading pictures of their work colleagues,” the ShutUpMeg blogger continued. “I literally couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Who was I to blame for this?”

Bec Judd’s advice for going on a pre-baby holiday. (Post continues after audio.)

“People would say I should only blame myself for uploading “personal pictures” and that it was my own fault (even though my profile was then private). I see it differently. I didn’t care that someone had screen shot my photo to show someone, it’s was what they did with my photo that made me physically sick to my stomach.”

Meg’s final message to her friends and followers? “Please be cautious about who follows/adds you.” And if they look creepy? “Block them.”

Have you posted baby belly photos to social media? Why/Why not?

You can follow Meg’s blog here.

READ MORE: 

• The pregnancy bucket list: all the things to get done one last time before the baby comes.
• The tricks women use to hide their pregnancies in that first trimester.
• Hello. This is a very pregnant mum. Covered in 20,000 bees.