Having a child comes with many body changes, some of which may not be desirable to women since they sometimes cannot recognise themselves.
Celebrities have made many people think that after having a baby, your body quickly bounces back as if nothing ever happened. While that may be the case for some, it’s not so for many.
The body needs time to heal itself and since every pregnancy is different, so is the healing.
To raise postpartum awareness, some social media influencers who recently gave birth shared their realistic postpartum bodies to show their followers that it’s normal to have pigmented and flabby bellies after giving birth.
Yolanda Silwanyana, who gave birth to her second child in November 2023, shared pictures of her postpartum body after one month, and her 130K Instagram followers were impressed.
“Ahhh *self hug* body appreciation post! Very proud of myself, as a postpartum mama, I understand how hard it is to find time to work on yourself, to feel good and to focus on yourself. It takes a lot to be okay mentally and to speak good to yourself.
“I haven’t started working out, nor plan on doing so until January. I’m in no rush! Focused on healing! This part of my life is called getting better, not getting back❤️ Mom of 2,” she said at the time.
While others wished they could recover like her, they need to understand that sometimes it has to do with genes, nutrition and how well you allow your body to rest.
Another influencer Witney Ramabulana recently gave birth and, unlike many, she is not worried about her body, her only focus is her newborn.
During pregnancy, she had hyperpigmentation on her stomach and getting it back to its original colour is the least of her worries.
“It takes three to six months to get back to normal, but don’t rush, hormone levels were all over during pregnancy. What matters right now is our little baba in frame 2,” she wrote.
Her followers commended her for being realistic since many relate to her situation.
“Thank you for being so real on social media & showing raw content of how pregnancy really looks like before, during and after,” commented @montlatsi.o.masilo.
And if you are a mother obsessed with getting your body back after giving birth, please be gentle with yourself.
Allow your body to heal and embrace every little change that comes with bringing your bundle of joy to life.