Forget the pregnancy pig-out

Pregnancy is a great leveller. It doesn't matter whether you're Victoria Beckham, Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost or Kate Moss, if you're going to be sick, you're going to be sick and, in most cases, if you're going to get fat, you're going to get fat.

But where superstar pregnancy differs from the rest is in the preventative treatment. How many of us, for example, have the benefit of a pool in our back garden to enable us to 'water-jog' for an hour every day like Demi Moore did before giving birth to Rumer? Madge did Astanga, Cindy Crawford did her pregnancy workout and celebrity magazines are jam-packed with B-listers who did yoga, ate organic and rubbed their perineum with almond oil to avoid tearing or afternoon boredom.

In New York, they go one step further. One particular obstetrician to the stars puts her patients on a strict diet the moment they register: no orange juice, no sugar and very few carbohydrates. Rather like boarding Concorde, there's a strict weight limit.

Putting on over 17lb (the amount most of us can gain over Christmas and New Year) is a cause for grave concern. One woman I know was upbraided and sent home on a strict diet of asparagus and water for hitting the 20lb mark. It won't surprise you to learn that the afore-mentioned obstetrician also brings her weights with her to the delivery room. While her patient's epidural is kicking in, she goes through her own mini-workout. Even obstetricians over here are now at pains to point out that women only need about 200 calories more each day to sustain a growing foetus - roughly the same amount as a pot of full-fat yoghurt.

That comes as a huge disappointment to those of us (well, me at least) who regard pregnancy as a no-holds-barred chowing-down opportunity. Speaking of which, it's tough to look cool in the gym once your boobs have expanded by two bra sizes and your stomach refuses to remain within the confines of your T-shirt and sweatpants.

The pregnant Posh says she never exercises, but most other pregnant celebrities prefer to work out either at home with a trainer or in the cozy confines of The Body Doctor in Primrose Hill where Kym Marsh and Sophie Dahl have undergone sensational reincarnations.

Over at the BD, they're not saying much about their fertile clientele: 'It's about being fit for the baby, not about keeping your weight down,' says the gruff BD himself, David Marshall. Josh Saltzman, enthusiastic trainer to Kate Winslet and the Duchess of York, says that pregnancy is like progressive resistance training: 'As long as your posture is good, you can actually stimulate your muscular and skeletal structure.'

Much has been made of the fact that Kate Moss will have her baby at the trendy John & Lizzie's in St John's Wood. Here, yoga, counselling and hypnosis are part of the package for expectant mums, most of whom ultimately give birth in the squatting position, according to a spokesperson. If all of that sounds a little too uncomfortable, there's always Nadia Narain's pregnancy class at Triyoga where celebrities and hoi polloi alike jostle for mat space, or reflexology sessions with Virginia Whetter at The Life Centre - 'very centering for nervy high-profile mums,' says one fan.

In Chiswick, Jurlique's Mother To Be treatments include flotation in a pool, a massage, a facial and pedicure, which are described by one mum as the 'closest you can come to sex when you weigh 40lb more than normal'. Darlings, it's almost worth getting pregnant for.

David Marshall (020 7586 6222); Triyoga (020 7483 3344); The Life Centre (020 7221 4602); Jurlique (020 8995 2293)