PREGNANCY is hard enough on women, but it's even worse for models.
In a line of work where image is everything, these women are paid for looking drop-dead gorgeous, being enviably skinny and having flawless skin.
But once they are expecting, they can also expect fewer assignments.
Granted, the maternity industry is booming in the US and Europe - and even spawned a successful American modelling agency that specialises in pregnant models and nursing mothers. (See facing page).
However, pregnant models here hoping to cash in on the trend may see their income go, ahem, belly up.
They are in low supply and difficult to find in Singapore.
Out of the 12 modelling and talent agencies The New Paper spoke to, only a quarter of them had one or two pregnant models currently in their hundred-strong stables.
Granted, there are a handful - usually the foreign models based here - who aren't ashamed to bare their naked bulges.
But most local models are so conservative, they end up disappearing from the scene when there's a bun in the oven.
Then there's the low demand. According to industry experts, mainstream brands like Sony and Nokia lean towards using regular models, while mother-and-child combos are popular with clients like banks or insurance companies.
Work for pregnant models is limited to editorial pages, maternity magazines and boutiques.
And even then, they prefer using pregnant non-models who are friends of friends (and are paid in kind), or pregnant celebrities like Zoe Tay and Beatrice Chia.
Alternatively, they resort to the oldest and most convenient trick in the book - stuffing a pillow underneath a regular model, who won't be as tired out by the long shoots.
So what's a poor knocked up model to do?
British Mauritian-French beauty Tui Sang, 27, from Mannequin Studio was eight months pregnant last December when she shot the cover for the current issue of Motherhood magazine.
Before that, she did work for a maternity clothing line in Malaysia and a pre-natal spa massage service.
Mannequin's director Yvonne Tan attested: 'At five months, she could still fit into her usual jeans and no one could tell she was pregnant.'
DROP IN JOBS
But Tui admitted that when her tummy started showing at the six-month mark, her assignments dropped by 90 per cent.
She said: 'Had I been in London, I would've probably worked every other day, because there's Marks & Spencer and Mothercare.
'But it was very low here because not a lot of products (that are manufactured overseas) do their ads in Singapore.'
Within five weeks of giving birth to a daughter, now six months old, Tui was back to doing regular modelling.
Now, she is hoping motherhood can be a bonus.
'I am also looking forward to being able to work together with my daughter as a double act. We can get more pay too,' she said with a laugh.
Another popular model here, Texas-born Linda Black, is two months pregnant.
Although the 32-year-old American-Panamanian stunner foresees work to be slowing down, she can't wait to do maternity magazine shoots when her baby bump is more prominent. Till then, she has requested not to do runway shows because 'there's a lot of waiting and standing around, it's aggravating work'.
But not every pregnant model will make the grade.
Patricia James, manager of Phantom Management, said: 'Sometimes, they don't look very becoming and may not have the glowing look. Their face may be bloated and the weight gain is substantial.'
According to Mr Watson Tan, managing director of Upfront Models, his model Joey Ng is seven months pregnant but hasn't scored any maternity gigs yet even though 'she is quite open and we did mention (her pregnancy) to a few magazines'.
Usually though, local pregnant models are simply 'not keen' to work during the second and third trimesters even if opportunities come up.
Till then, real women who are with child are unofficially moving into model territory.
And most times, they come for free.
For example, Ms Kai Tan was featured modelling stylish maternity wear in The Straits Times' Urban spread last Thursday.
The 26-year-old boutique owner and mother of two may look like a pro, but she has no modelling experience.
Ms Tan, who is six months pregnant, was roped in by the stylist, who happens to be her friend.
On the other hand, local maternity boutiques The New Paper spoke to have been using regular models with fake bellies.
Mother En Vogue has yet to engage a pregnant model because of 'timing and specific requirements', said its founder/director Ms Sharon Ho-Norton.
She doesn't favour using a pregnant non-model because she 'will need a lot more direction in their poses, facial expressions and sometimes even posture'.
Eventually, the consumers will dictate whether the market for pregnant models can grow.
Linda herself champions realism, saying: 'As a mother-to-be, I don't want to see a stick-thin 20-year-old with a strap-on pillow because I can't relate to that.
'But if I see an obviously pregnant woman with bigger calves and hips, I know that's going to be me and the clothes will fit me better, so I'll go to that store.'
Upfront Models' Mr Tan feels there'll be more work for pregnant models only if our lifestyle attitudes change.
He said jokingly: 'It will happen only if the maternity industry is marketed like condominiums, and having babies turns into the hot, must-have 'in' thing.'
