28 Raw Images Of What A Postpartum Body Looks Like For Most Women Despite What Instagram May Have You Believe
I had my first (and so far, only) baby when I had just turned 25. Despite gaining 30kg (that's around 66lbs! yikes!) I definitely, for some absurd reason, thought I'd be walking out of that hospital in my pre-pregnancy jeans.
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Newsflash: THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN! In fact, those jeans didn't fit me for about 5 months.
It was 2016 and the whole mummy-blogger-influencer 'thing' was REALLY taking off. Every time I opened my phone, I saw new mothers in swimsuits, slinky PJs, and just generally looking fabulous and like they'd not even had a baby at all, like ever.
While this ABSOLUTELY is no shade to them and is by no means a 'bad' thing, it isn't ALWAYS a realistic experience for everyone. In fact, it isn't always even realistic AT ALL.
While I spent the first days of my daughter's life mastering breastfeeding and trying to work out how to fold my stroller, these mamas were photoshopping and perfecting their postpartum Instagram feed - because it was their job to do so.
There job wasn't to show the bad or the 'ugly'. Just the good. The very, very good.
I didn't understand. I just couldn't get it through my head that what I was seeing on my phone wasn't always an accurate depiction of that woman's life. Thank god, I know now, but unfortunately, it took until I turned 30.
Luckily, some women on the internet are showing the 'other' side of postpartum - the one we don't always see. The one with the stretch-marks and the cellulite and the discolouration.
Check the images out below!