I went through old pics and found these from April 2017 of me showing my post partum body whilst holding Finley. He was 12 weeks old at the time. Almost all of the post partum pics that I was seeing in the press and on insta were of Mum’s who had ‘bounced back into shape’ or were ‘wowing us with their bikini bodies’ just a few weeks after childbirth.
Good for them and good for you if that’s how your body works but my post partum body doesn’t work that way.
Why did I do these pics?
I wanted to let other new Mum’s see how I looked as I knew I wasn’t the only one with a wobbly belly, rolls, bigger thighs and heavy boobs.
These pics felt like they were something helpful that I could use my new found platform for. I never could’ve imagined the amazing response that I got from these images, I was blown away at the amount of positive messages and press.
I set out thinking this might resonate with a handful of women and instead it was hundreds.
Isn’t it mad that something so normal can cause such interest, but back then (almost 4 years ago now) we didn’t see much ‘reality’ on social media so in April 2017 these type of raw images were a shock to lots of people.
Inspiring Body Confidence
After these pics were published, I was approached to do a fitness DVD to show women how to shed their baby weight but I turned it down. That was never what these pics were about for me. These were to make new Mum’s feel good about how they looked, these were meant to empower and inspire body confidence. I wasn’t going to insult women by making them believe that they had to be thinner to be happy as I believe happiness comes from inside, not from your appearance.
Sharing Some Reality
Social media content has come a long way since 2017 as now we see unedited images every day and whilst I love a bit of glam, 90% of my life is spent with my hair in a bun with no make up on and I think it’s important to share that side of life on social media too.
These are some of my favourite photos of myself. If you were one of the people who sent me lovely messages after these pics were published then thank you and to everyone else who shares a bit of reality from time to time, thank you too.
Reality is something we all need to see sometimes.
