With pregnancy comes many changes; your belly grows bigger, you need the toilet constantly, your back aches, and you suddenly start craving the weirdest food combos ever.

But the most annoying change, by far, is the fact that your right to personal space seems to diminish overnight.

Countless community boards and Reddit threads are filled with pregnant women complaining about friends, family members, colleagues, and, sometimes, even strangers walking up to them and touching their bellies.

So, when fans spotted a photo of a man apparently grabbing at Chrissy Teigen’s belly without her consent, many took to Twitter to call him out as a “creep”.

However, in a surprise twist, Teigen has since defended the stranger – and revealed that he had only reached out to grab her when he saw her step into the road without first looking for oncoming traffic.

“He actually saved me from getting run over by a cyclist,” she clarified.

“I should have looked before stepping out!”

Of course, it’s understandable that so many people made the mistake: just a few years ago, fashion blogger Anita Gaitho, of Style Sketches, went viral after writing a post about how irritating she found “rude” people during her pregnancy.

In it she wrote: “Since I’ve hit these last stages of my pregnancy, I’ve started receiving such rude comments, I can’t believe how dumb people can be. I’m now 36 weeks along and I can probably write a book’s worth on the rude comments and silly questions that I’ve been getting.

“The most recent and high up on the list of most offensive has been hearing how big my lips and nose have gotten. Say what now? I didn’t stand up for myself because I was caught off-guard but the next time someone says something rude to me, I’ll be so ready to throw back a rude retort.”

She added: “The next stranger that attempts to touch my belly is getting kicked in the crotch.”

Nicole Richie, similarly, recently revealed that her one piece of pregnancy advice for all mums-to-be would be to stand up for themselves, and tell people to leave them alone.

Speaking to People, she said: “I would say, ‘Don’t let anyone touch your stomach. Don’t let everyone think they have the right to just touch you’.

“Who wants that? Nobody.”

We imagine the lesson here is, as ever, that you should never touch another person without their consent. Unless, of course, you need to stop them becoming roadkill.

Image: Getty