Pink and husband Carey Hart take their newborn daughter, Willow Sage on an outing to the beach.
Pink had a baby a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Willow Sage Hart and here is the new family on their first outing to the beach together.
It’s a beautiful reminder of how the human body looks after giving birth AND IT’S OK.
She grew a whole other person. Inside her tummy. And the more people who can see and understand that this is PERFECTLY NORMAL after giving birth, the better.
Jools Oliver with Jamie Oliver and baby Petal Blossom Rainbow
Images like this one and the one we’ve published previously (below) of Jools Oliver, Jamie Oliver’s wife when she left hospital with their 3rd daughter are much-needed counter-balances to those hideous magazine covers of ‘post-baby bodies’ that are, in case you were wondering, often digitally enhanced in ways that would make your eyes water, including having tummies ‘cut’ off and carved into.
Like these (Read more here):
Kendra
Kourtney:
I’ve written about this many times here on Mamamia (When Did Pregnancy Become A Competitive Sport?) but it’s a subject I won’t tire of while magazines continue to do such a blatant disservice to women by publishing these ridiculous shots.
Comments
246 Comments so far
Thank you for posting. I had only seen one post baby body in real life and from images I had seen prior, made me think it was odd.
It’s so frustrating.
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I took my old (little) jeans with me to hospital first time…
By bub 3 I didn’t even get “dressed”. It was lovely!
A good dressing gown & comfy slippers.
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And please also read the ‘Girl Gone Child’ blog for inspiring and honest accounts of life and body after giving birth to twins
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The day after I gave birth to twins, I felt so light and skinny – and then my dear husband asked if they’d left one in there.
If I could have moved, I would’ve slugged him.
Having said that, I lost all that fluid within 2 weeks, and was back to pre baby weight at 6 weeks – very lucky me
Now, 3.5 years down the track I have bigger issues with the mild weight gain, major stretch marks and loose skin. Maybe these mags should do real post baby body pictures.
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And you know what else is normal for some people? Going back to their post-baby body within days of giving birth! I have had 2 little girls and both times my stomach was flat within days of giving birth. I have always been quite slim and I don’t do any excersize and I eat whatever I want.. (I know, you hate me)..
While I agree that many magazine covers are photoshopped and some people do have to work very hard to go back to their post baby body, it is important to remember that “normal” is not just having a huge tummy after birth.
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Time for some new stories I am seeing lots of repeats lately…
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See this annoys me too. This is not what all bodies look like after birth. I had a flat tummy after both of my deliveries (lost weight) but who cares…I think the message is post birth is not the time to focus on what your body looks but rather eating well, resting and just doing the best you can for yourself and baby. Some women will have excess weight just as they did before birth, some will lose weight, some will swell up, some will obsess, some should take a bit better care. All is ok. Bodies are personal not for public discussion.
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I totally agree with you Jul……..
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Exactly!! Post-birth is a time when your body is, if you’ve been lucky, transforming itself from a healthy pregnant state to a healthy non-pregnant state. I believe supporting your health, and your energy supply / your ability to be there for your baby at this time is absolutely top priority. What your body looks like during those days, weeks and months should be a *long* way down the list of priorities!
I simply had not thought about what my body would look like after birth, when I was in hospital after my little girl’s birth. I remember thinking it was rather obvious that it wouldn’t pop magically back, and yes, like one other person said, I felt very light and agile compared to a few days earlier!! I remember my (a bit younger, and curious / eager to talk and learn) brother-in-law tentatively commenting… something awkward along the lines of still looking a bit pregnant / not quite non-pregnant. I just shrugged and explained nothing would happen overnight!! Midwives had already explained the thing about bleeding/lochia for 6 weeks, so I didn’t expect even a possibility of stability in my body shape till that point!
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Do you know what else I’d like? Magazines to stop doing ‘before and after’ photos of female celebrities when the before shot shows them pregnant.
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Soon after the birth of my first baby I have to say my stomach bounced back to looking quite flat…however, it’s been a year since the birth of my second child and I’m having so much trouble with my stomach area. I am not overweight but everything is wobblier and my stomach area sticks out a bit..I am exercising regularly now as I’m getting a full night’s sleep, and I’m still breastfeeding.. Even though I’m proud of my body and what it has done, I’m surrounded by relatives who are very very slim with no signs of having babies, and really fit people…and I feel quite unfit! I’m hesitant to get into my swimsuit, which is quite sad..
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I hear you Petunia. I have had 3 kids with my hubby over 12 years. I “bounced” after our first when I was mid 20′s , but not after our 2nd when I was 30. I remember sitting on the beach at Terrigal one day a few years back- all worried re my belly and not wating to strip off and feel so vulneranble on the beach in front of everone. I certainly knew I did not look like the young women on the beach in their swim gear….And you know what I saw? A woman bigger than me, say a size 16 in a bikini (GASP!) running, literally running! with her kids, chucking them in the water, chasing them around, building sandcastles- so her wobblybits went sideways as she bent over. And I started to cry. Why? Cause SHE was having the time of her life with her kids and I was too ashamed and self concious of the wonderful body of mine that gave me 3 gorgeous kids and had the gall to still have a bit of proof (bigger belly and boobs & slightly haggard expressions on occassion! LOL) My husband was confused, too- we went to the beach to have fun and I was sniffelling on the sand. I also felt guilty because my 2 girls were old enough to guess how I was feeling and more imoprtantly, why. And what kinda message was I telling them? Not one that I was happy with, for sure.
That woman on the beach, a complete stranger to whom I have never spoken, taught me sooo much. Get out there- have fun with your kids- enjoy those happy moments. Her happiness and ability to live has resonated wth me for years, and now that I have a 3 year old son to add to the mix and am now 40, I dont care about my belly and how I look. No, I wont wear a bikini again, but on a recent holiday O/S, I was the curvy mum running about with her family on the beach, AND IT WAS GREAT. x0x0x
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Thank you for your response! You are very right!!
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To be fair, I saw the episodes of Kendra leading up to that shoot, and while she may not have looked quite that perfect, she did work really hard and had a banging bikini body in the episode of the show when this shoot was done.
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Wow these true images are so refreshing. I wondered why my stomach was still so full after birth. Good to know we are all human, there should be a law against touched up post pregnancy images, not to mention numerous others. These kind of misleading images cause so many body disorders.
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Well my body has given life to 2 gorgeous kids. I am still sporting a belly and my last baby is 8 years old bahahaha. Who cares – they’re gorgeous and Im healthy
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Pink has released an open letter addressing the publication of these types of paparazzi photos. She’s not impressed
http://www.pinkspage.com/us/news/important-note-pnk
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It’s funny you wrote this post, and I only just found this now. But on the weekend I too was thinking about the fact that all these celebrities get their “baby bodies back” in a matter of weeks and months after giving birth.
When you are home from hospital you have many jobs; head chef for your baby (and often you and your husband too), grocery shopper, house cleaner, clothes washer, clothes dryer, possible ironer, clothes put-away, bed maker, hostess (for those who drop in for visits), maybe a driver for other children, as well as the most important being a mother to your new-born child! (Few of us are lucky to have partners at home to share the load, and even then they generally have to go back to work after a couple of weeks). If we broke up all those roles into job categories and got staff to help with the cooking, cleaning, driving etc, and you also had a chef to bring you a freshly squeezed juice when you are hungry and tired and just want to eat that cake your friend dropped in, and then also had someone to watch your baby, play with them, bring them to you for feeding and then burp and change them for bed, then I think I too could find some time to go to the gym. But that’s not real life! But, for some of these people, it is their life, getting your body back into shape is their job, they need their body a certain way for a movie role, their family and lifestyle depend on that income, and they have an army of people to help them do it. So we shouldn’t compare ourselves- but yet we do!
And this goes for those models and actors with buns of steel and perfect abs. I often wonder if I spent the hours I spend at my day job working on my body and planning and eating healthy food, with organic chefs delivering mouth watering- meals (hello Gwyneth), perhaps I too could look a bit more like Miranda Kerr..!
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I ate healthily, exercised all through my pregnancy and put on 12kg. I gave birth to my (4.1kg) son naturally with no drugs and was incredibly swollen after the birth. My legs and feet were huge, I looked ridiculous. I was told this is very normal. I left the hospital on day 5 in pre-pregnancy clothes and 6 months later I’ve lost 14kg but my body will never be the same again.
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it’s more than OK it’s beautiful!
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Mia – you’ve done it again – in a few short words and pictures, you’ve made me and my 4 x post baby body feel glam and proud that I cooked a few babies in my beloved tummy and I have the war wounds (ahem…stretchies) to prove it.
Proud that I too walked out of hospital looking like I’d delivered a baby and not a peanut.
Well done to the Mum’s who do eventually lose their baby weight, it’s not easy but given that having a baby is the biggest thing a woman will put her body through, I’m delighted that a few celebrity Mum’s are happy to venture into the great outdoors, soak up some oxygen with newborn and not be too stressed about weight before baby.
Pink continually proves she’s just a complete rock star and role model. Well done Mia – we should be retweeting this all OVER THE WORLD!
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I love these pictures – I’ve only 7 weeks to go, and it’s so reassuring to see what ‘normal’ bodies do, and not the photoshopped celeb bodies!!
Oh, and hooray for doting dads too!
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Nine months up, nine months down!
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Pink just had a child for goodness sake, wen can be so unkind to each other at times!! If she looked too thin and fit (like she normally does) everyone would be bitching and moaning that she was too thin etc.. She’s just had a bsbu, so she may have put on dome extra kilos but she will bounce back.. For the record I think she looks great.
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Sorry for the typos, i am holding my own 10 week old while typing..
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I have a (in 2 days) 10 week old too!
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Umm did you read the article?
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That Kourtney one is appauling! That is totally photoshopped down to changing the babies clothes and her dress colour. Shocking!
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yes it is, kourtney actually called out the magazine for it and posted the real photos on her blog.
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You beautiful women inspire me!
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Adore pink have done for the last 6 years just another reason to love her……..She has been my inspiration , even more now! Such a strong woman
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What a timely post. I visited my best friend and her 2 day old baby son in hospital on Sunday. She was looking at her still bloated belly and asking when it would go down.
I sent her the link to this article
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To grow a baby, give birth and provide the baby’s only sustenance for 6 months…the female body is just so clever! Who cares how big a new mum’s belly is. Mothers are superstars!
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What the hell is wrong with you people???
These women have just given birth! You are so very naive and ignorant if you think its ok to judge them as overweight. Seriously!!! Its people like you that perpetuate the ugly myths that modern media sell about body image. Never heard of sisterhood have you!!!
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Here here! No one ever told me I was going to feel like I had a kangaroo pouch instead of a stomach!
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I saw the episode of Kendra and her hips were popping out of the bikini and she was NOTHING like the photoshopped pic above! She was basically crying about having to appear in a bikini with the baby weight so when I saw the cover it was a shock because her body in the photo is a lie and it should not be allowed.
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Yep, that’s why the way mags do this is so abhorrent. It’s flat-out lying and not just that, it also targets incredibly vulnerable people – new mothers.
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As a first time mum, I thought my stomach would get back to ‘normal’ after a couple of weeks you know like the other women. Just have to eat right and walk half an hour a day after sleeping for 10mins the night before. BIG FAT LIE. It doesn’t work. I still have the tummy of a 90 year old woman on the body of a 32 year old! I hate these mags. It’s offensive and cruel
.
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After I had my first baby, I remember being horrified that after giving birth I was still fat.I honestly thought that after giving birth I would go straight back to my prebaby size 8 with the last contraction.Silly,silly me !!
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After I had my first baby, I remember being horrified that after giving birth I was still fat.I honestly thought that after giving birth I would go straight back to my prebaby size 8 with the last contraction.Silly,silly me !!
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My question is….
What’s a Kendra?
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I just read through a lot of the comments here and while i can’t comment personally i haven’t ever had a baby. I have seen some really dramatically different versions of the whole thing. My sister practically exploded with pre baby fluid or something like that and my friend was so little both before and after both her babies the second one however was too big for her body and her belly started splitting on the outside (aaaaahhh!!) but this time instead of snapping back she was still tiny but belly looked like over stretched balloon. I think that kindess to each other and maybe a little gentleness might be good. But my favourite is my mum who after 5 kids and gaining weight after each of us and spending tooooooo much time taking care of us and putting us first has in the last few years lost about 30 kgs and now can wear a size 14. It might have taken almost 39 years for her to lose her baby weight but the smile on her face no she can buy clothes in any old store. Oh and now she sometimes buys the same shoes as me sooo cute.
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Even though Pink only gave birth a few days ago, aside from the big tummy, she is overweight and obviously gained too much which pregnant – which is just as unhealthy as being underweight. My sister is a midwife and said that lots of women just put on way too much weight while pregnant.
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What is wrong with you?
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Errrr, nothing actually, but in my opinion Pink is overweight, even for someone who has very recently given birth.
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If you think Pink is overweight then your “view” of what is a healthy normal weight is severely askew and I’d suggest you perhaps broaden your horizons and knowledge as to what’s healthy and what’s not.
Just a thought.
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I’m all for embracing different body shapes, but I don’t think normalising people being overweight any healthier than normalising them being underweight. I think the above photo of Kendra is ridiculous, but I think the pic of Jools Oliver is my idea of a healthy post birth body. Just because you become pregnant doesn’t mean you have to get enormous – nor is it healthy to do so.
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Jools looks a little on the thin side if you ask me, the backs of her hands are a dead give away. As for Pink, she looks fine as she has probably blown up like most women do after delivery with fluid! I know I looked “fat” for about a week after delivery until my hormones settled down, not to mention she probaly hasnt been training much for the last 3 months and has lost a lot of the toned muscle she previously had.
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I’ve never heard of women ‘blowing up with fluid after delivery”, have asked a midwife and she’s never heard of it either.
I’m not saying Pink is massively obese, just that from the way she looks, the amount of weight she put on during pregnancy is not, in my opinion, ideal.
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I have a now 4 month old baby. I only gained 8 kgs while pregnant (I am a big eater but also exercise for at least 30 mins each day). My baby was 3.55 kgs at birth, so I was mostly tummy with a bit of weight on the hips and thighs. After the birth (a c section due to baby being breech) I swelled up so much it was ridiculous. I couldnt event fit into the slip on shoes I bought to wear in the hospital as my feet swelled up so much. I had no swelling during pregnancy only AFTER the baby was born. It took a good 2 1/2 weeks for it to go down. My ob said it was perfectly normal (and common) and was due to the extra 2 litres of blood or so pumping around my body to supply the baby, going back into my lymphatic system for my body to pee, sweat and breathe out. So I looked like a big puffed up version of myself for a few weeks.
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When they give you a drip and pump you full of fluids for several hours afterwards because you had a caesar you do indeed blow up with fluid. Been there, done that. My feet were so inflated that they hurt for days.
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I didn’t have a c-section & had very healthy pregnancies but I was still really bloated following both births. My normal weight is 60kgs but I looked a lot heavier than that in the weeks following. You go through a period of sweating… a lot… getting rid of the fluids.
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After my first bub I swelled so badly I called a nurse to come and look at me. I thought something was wrong because my feet were three times their normal size. Even my nose looked bigger. All normal I was told.
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are you sure your sister is a midwife? i had massive fluid retention after delivery i had to go home bare foot as i my shoes wouldn’t fit on my feet, apparently that is very common.
maybe you should get off the judgement bandwagon of how much weight you think pink should or should not have put on!
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The only time I had any fluid retention was after delivery – the bones in my feet disappeared for a week or so!
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Who is this midwife you asked?
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You’re not talking to a very well educated midwife then!
Regardless of her normal body shape post baby, Pink would have a better BMI than the average person out there.
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I had my 2nd 10 days ago-actually lost weight in both preg due to morning sickness but with both, post birth (and not before-not even my ankles and fingers) I retained a lot of fluid for a few days til my milk came in. All the midwives & my OB said that was totally normal due to the extra blood volume too. Maybe the midwife that the person who thinks Pink is overweight is asking is not across such a normal part of postpartum recovery. Oh and it wasn’t the drip-both times were not caesars…
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I DEFINITELY blew up with a massive amount of fluid after my 3rd child, but not my first two. It happened about 3 days after she was born. Even my face was affected.
A day or so after that, I had a massive diuresis, peeing peeing peeing – ouch – and then I was back to my ‘normal’ post birth weight.
As for our post-birth tummies, I think I would have given anything to have a big round tummy, as my abdomen always resembled a slightly sweaty, half- filled flippy floppy waterbed after birth.
I’m 48 now, my youngest is 18. It all comes back in and firms up, after a time. Exercise, yoga, eating well, the usual things… it all contributes, so too does lactation.
Let’s keep an open mind to all possibilities here. Pink may well be a bit post-natally oedematous in this image, and her beautiful, life-giving body has also prepared her baby for lean times. Mother Nature provides us with a store of extra nutrition which we hold around our hips, thighs, tummies, so that if we don’t receive sufficient nutrition, at least our bodies can draw on the stored energy for life-sustaining milk.
Hooray for Pink, getting out there and doing something ‘normal’. I hope she truly doesn’t give a shit about us, and our various opinions of her.
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I blew up massively with fluid retention after the birth of my second child, to the point of not being able to walk for several days. I think judging these woman for how they look a few days or weeks after birth is insulting not only to them but to all women. We carry differently, we gain weight differently, we retain fluid, we get postnatal hyper-thyroidism, we get PND. This should not even be a point of discussion. Honour those women for the miracle of birth and shut the hell up about how they look.
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This has happened to 2 of my friends. Really.
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We were told in pre-natal classes that the ones who end up with the split abs and tummy all over the shop are people like Pink who had ripped abs beforehand. Not sure of the mechanics of it.
I think you and your midwife mate may have your wires crossed somewhere. I don’t believe a midwife would say what you’re claiming they have said.
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Anon this time, have you had a baby? Often, even if you’ve only gained the advised 10-15 kg of weight during pregnancy, you get puffy (not just your tummy, but everywhere) with water retention. It goes away after a little while.
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Anon this time. I’ve had to babies, one C section the other natural birth. No fluid retention with either. I accept the anecdotal evidence above, I’ve just never know anyone to experience it. In my original comment I didn’t say my sister said that post birth fluid retention didn’t occur, just that from the women she sees, it is becoming the norm to put on heaps of weight while pregnant.
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I think I looked a lot like Pink after giving birth, in terms of her size increase from her pre-baby body. I would hate that there were people like your sister judging me for my weight gain. I lost it all within the year, plus some (running around after a baby is a great weight loss mechanic!), but I don’t know if that’s really even the point. No doctors or anyone seemed to think the weight gain was relevant either.
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Yep same here I had a caesarean and was wondering why after the birth my feet were sooooo swollen and had ‘cankles’ even when I didnt have that during pregnancy.. def fluid build up.. was told by the midwife that its gravity with all the extra fluid ending up in the legs/feet and VERY common…
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Same here, I had no fluid retention during my pregnancy but after the birth my feet were huge, and I certainly was quite bloated.
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Mum took a photo of me in my hospital bed holding Missy, and I don’t look like me! My nose was all red from the op and my face is swollen too.
I think the drugs from the Caesar helped, although I don’t remember feeling similar after the other general anaesthetic operations I have had.
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I was similar, no fluid retention during pregnancies but ‘hello cankles’ after the birth! Crikey, I didn’t recognise my own lower legs and feet! They actually hurt a bit too and took a good week to go down.
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I excersised everyday & ate the correct foods with the most nutrients best for bubby …. somehow i put on 30kilos & bub only weighed 6pounds ! I lost the weight over the next year but my body is a completely different shape. I think to state that Pink is overweight in this shot only a few days after giving birth is rediculas, lets see how you do! I know many mums who put on exessive amounts of weight with daily excersise …. my sister was bed ridden her entire pregnancy & only put on 12kilos & bubby was premi. Depends on the person & the baby. Let me guess, your sister is one of these Midwives who hav never had children ???
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How about we just let these photos appear in the media and not make a big hoo haa about them for once – that’s when true ‘acceptance’ will occur, if that’s the goal here. People generally are not silly enough to believe that Kendra’s post-baby body is the norm, especially if they see their sisters, friends etc post-birth. I’m not convinced that turning these pics into a Mamamia post is really educating the community about womens body’s post-pregnancy all that much.
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I understand what you are saying but although I was super educated about all sorts of aspects of birth (read WAY too much) I think having seen the picture of Jools a while ago helped me to know what to expect. Without it I think I would have just expected to be bigger all over after the birth, not to have this massive tummy.
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Hey Jess,
If only there were other ‘actual’ pictures of women’s post-baby bodies in the media instead of the fake ones we see on magazine covers and inside in digitally altered pictures.
Magazines do more than just give you something to flick through at the supermarket or doctor’s surgery. They calibrate what passes for ‘normal’ when it comes to body shapes.
When the images of bodies they publish don’t actually exist, this is deeply troubling.
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A) I’m a bit tired of the slim after no time at all mums saying whaaat aboooouut meeeee??! Y’all fit the fantasy, stop your fussin’!!!!
and B) I’m amazed at all the first time mums who had no idea about post baby tummies – do you not all educate yourselves before birtth?? I know I read every Pregancy/Baby magazine there was while I was pregnant with my first and was under NO illusions AT ALL about how I would look after giving birth. Does no one these days have cousins/sisters/friends who advise them, or do they just not take notice?? Do all those shocked people live and die by trashy tabeloids?? Surely not!!! Lets face it, childbearing is exclusive to women – a bit more time spent on educating yourselves on such things would be more beneficial than studying the latest celebrity trends/bodies/fashions!!!
Oh, and PS – haven’t seen it mentioned yet in the comments – but do you all know that the “6 pack” stomach muscles in a lot of woment “unzip” themselves right down the middle during pregancy and take some time to repair – I remember one of my post-natal friends letting me feel her tummy – I could practically push my fist right through her abdomen.
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Educating myself about how i will look after giving birth was not something that would have occurred to me,and why should it have?
Surely that’s the last thing to worry about once you hold your little bundle in your arms…
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I couldn’t agree more JaneDJ! Surely everyone has actually seen a live woman after birth? It seems completely bizarre to me as well! As much as we all look forward to holding our babies in our arms it seems ridiculous to not be curious about what our bodies will be like after the journey.
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I get where Jane DJ is coming from but in answer to some of her questions:
No, I didn’t have cousins or sisters who were having babies – they were all older than me. My friends were too competitive to mention anything or were genetically blessed and put on hardly any pregnancy weight.
Why would someone educate themselves on something they don’t know about? You don’t know what you don’t know and I devoured every book and magazine going and their wasn’t a whole lot of mention of what your tummy would be like after – just to do your pelvic floor exercises.
I think it’s important to offer the full spectrum of reality when mostly you see photoshopped or images of a mum on a hell exercise schedule held up as achievable.
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Until I had my baby, I had never seen a woman immediately after birth. I was the first in my family and of my friends. And I don’t think of myself as ridiculous.
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So you had never actually seen a woman with a newborn baby down the street, in the supermarket etc? I respectfully disagree. I don’t think that you need to have friends or family who have given birth to see what a woman looks like usually in those first few weeks after giving birth. There are plenty of strangers walking around to observe
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Maybe I had seen them and not paid any attention. All I know is that after having my baby, I was surprised to find my belly was almost as big as it was before and it took quite a while to go down. And I ‘respectfully’ disagree with you calling that ridiculous.
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Oh well you know what they say about opinions and I stand by mine and agree with Jane DJ
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I totally agree with you Kerr. Of course we have all seen women walking around with newborns but it would have never occured to me to check out their tummy size etc. Going into your first pregnancy and birth is nothing if not a huge learning curve, including what you will look like once your baby has arrived
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If they were strangers walking down a street how would one know what they looked like before therefor be able to establish the ‘after’ they were viewing was due to the pregnancy?
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Saw lots of women with newborn babies but would never have crossed my mind to assess their bodyshape. I would have been too busy admiring their beautiful babies. Even after having my first baby, I didn’t realise how big a woman could still be after birth. I’m 5’2″ & only put on 6kg with 1st baby & only 10kg by the 3rd. If you haven’t seen it, you don’t know about it. Never any mention & certainly no pictures in any pregnancy books I read about post partum bodies.
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Agree. Read lots of birth books & NONE spoke about bodyshape apart from breast shape & appearance. Nor did any talk of after birth pain. What a shock that was!
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Jane DJ- You seem so judgmental and high and mighty in your comment! Of course first time mums educate themselves about pregnancy and birth, just because they’re asking questions about when the post baby tummy bounces back, doesn’t mean they haven’t read up on every other part of being pregnant, giving birth, breast feeding and being a mum!
Were you completely educated when you had your first- I think not! Every first time mum has something to learn.
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I did massive amounts of reading up on stuff before my first baby and nowhere in any book or at antenatal classes was the post baby body mentioned. It’s something noone tells you.
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See above – yes I educated myself a lot, but as they say “a picture tells a thousand words”. How many preggo books actually SHOW a post partum belly.
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None that I saw, and I saw a lot!
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You shouldn’t have been able to put your fist between her muscles, that would be called a diastasis and would require a physio’s intervention and/or post natal stomach exercises. A gap of 3cm and under is more normal.
Most people don’t think about how they’ll look after a baby until they get there. I think that’s true for most new phases in your life. Even during the antenatal period when classes are run for expectant parents, most of them don’t take in the class that may be run about early parenthood. They know it’s coming, but can’t “get past” the birth. I suspect the post natal tummy is the same
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I kind of get where you’re coming from. I did a fair bit of reading up on stuff, and I too looked at a couple of pregnancy/parenting mags. I don’t recall anything about how your body might be afterwards. Up the Duff (which I can’t recommend highly enough) had some stuff about it, and so does Kidwrangling (the follow on).
I tell anyone who is pregnant to avoid the magazines as I think they are full of crap you don’t need and make you worry. I am pretty resilient and don’t generally give a shit about what mags tell you, but the preggo mags got to me. They’re just advertising brochure with a few stories in them.
Subscribe to a couple of websites, like birth.com.au or babycenter.com.au (yes, that is spelt correctly. Sargfarnit), pick one book you like (I suggest Up The Duff and Attack of the 50 Foot Hormones) and chill out. The last thing you need is feeling pressure and seeing ads for crap you don’t need or can’t afford!
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Just wanted to add – there’s nothing wrong with not knowing stuff and asking about it! We don’t have the close family groups where you might have been at close quarters with women who had just given birth anymore, unless you work in a hospital or are just really into it.
I don’t think it is helpful to discourage people asking stuff if they don’t know!
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I just had my third baby and I am surprised all over again at how big my tummy still is and yes, how swollen I was after the birth. And no, I didn’t know anyone who’d had a baby recently when I had my first and I didn’t go around checking people out in the street! And no, I don’t consider myself ridiculous.
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My tummy was exactly like this after my first bub (I’ve had 3), it has seriously taken many many years to fix, I’m not hard core into exercise, I’ve healed it with Yoga, but gee you have to be patient and stop getting pregnant!
Otherwise I looked like Pink after my third, she was my biggest bub and I seriously piled it on without even trying. I do remember friends, who were pregnant with their first, came to visit the day after, and were horrified at how big my belly was after the bub……the looks on their faces said it all! Then some kids at my sons kindy started picking on me (tongue in cheek) asking me if I still had the baby in my tummy, whilst I was holding the baby!! hilarious. Children are sooooo cruel…… hahah
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I had a smokin’ hot body after number two, however number three completely wrecked my stomach, even though I ate well, exercised and didn’t gain very much weight. I had to have surgery to fix an enormous hernia that my last pregnancy gave me. Judgement is such a bad thing, especially, as you don’t really ever have control over your body.
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Oh dear….. I still struggle with that ‘post bebe’ weight and my lil bebe boy is now 17!!!!!!
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I gave birth yesterday and am currently sporting a very typical after-birth bump but who the hell cares?
I have a perfect little baby girl!
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Oh congratulations!! What is her name?
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Thank you!
Her name is Elodie.
It’s day 4 and my tummy is still out there – ha ha ha!
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Rubs your belly! lol CONGRATULATIONS from Oz!
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Congratulations xxxxx
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Well done, you clever thing!!
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Fabulous news!!! Congratulations. Your body is ever so clever!!!
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I love you banging on about this Mia! Thanks for reminding us.
It would be great if these shots were also shared in mainstream media so a population greater than your reader base could be educated too. Did anyone else see them anywhere other than women directed media?
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They were on the Daily Mail. Not sure where else.
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I wish I had known that the belly didn’t disappear just like that *snaps fingers* .When I had my son I was the first of my girlfriends to have had a child, and when I left hospital and still had a belly I was very confused as to why it was still there!
Unit I saw all the other Mum’s leaving hospital with the same belly. I am laughing rembering this now, looking back I feel so silly that I didn’t know this, but not having anything to go by but magazine photo’s and not having Mum there to ask – for a while there I was a bit worried that there was something wrong!
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Sarah, I was exactly the same! I was the first one of my friends and the morning after mum visited us in hospital and I asked what my belly was doing still there, she just laughed at me. I honestly thought it all just came out and you deflated. Of all the preparation you do for childbirth, and I never knew…
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Am bit sick of all the hoo haa about women’s sizes in the media, including while they are pregant. Get over it!! Was a bit surprised that this would even be a topic. It is a bit of a no brainer/non event as every woman is individual and carries babies differently. We are all differnt shapes and dress sizes to start off with. Once you get pregnant, as well as the baby, there are a whole host of other factors as to how you look when you’re pregnant, such as fluid, where the placenta attaches in uterus etc. Yeah sure, some women go crazy and eat for 6 and put on 30 kilos! But it is a generalisation to say this is how a woman’s body looks after pregnancy. I don’t think it is necessarily so. Having been pregnant twice (currently pregnant with the second one) and knowing a number of others who have also been preggers. I think Pink was fairly big during her pregnancy… Also noting that in that picture, Pink is only day five post birth so of course she is still going to retain alot of fluid etc. Having said that, I didn’t retain fluid and lost my post baby gut with no effort and really quickly. I am not a skinny person. Normally my weight fluctuates greatly/dependant on clothes sizes too! My baby belly was pretty much deflated by about day 5 and I was nowhere near as huge as Pink in first instance when I carried my normal weight/height baby to term (Put on around 10 kilos that pregnancy). Currently 5 months pregnant, still wearing my normal clothes, although I am not into skimpy or clingy stuff anyway and likely will be able to wear normal clothes most of pregnancy. I don’t know how women could cope with bigger bellies as I could hardly cope with my teeny one! I think it could be genetic as my mum says she carried small too.
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Obviously not everyone has the after baby tummy, however the majority of mothers do especially in the weeks following birth. This article is helping mothers that have enough on their plate to worry about, and let them see that it is perfectly normal to not bounce straight back! Good for you, that you got your body back easily, however it is not that easy for most women and we should just encourage every shape and size. Especially following a baby. And yes every woman’s body is different, well so is every pregnancy and your body is harder to get back with each pregnancy!
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Why are some women so obsessed with getting their pre-baby bodies back so soon. They start dieting and exercising like crazy and worrying that they are not fitting into their size 8/10 jeans within weeks of giving birth, and then they wonder why they don’t have enough milk to feed their child! Mmmmm let’s see here…. because you’ve just given birth and you are trying to heal and also feed your child…..
I say chill out, eat healthy however don’t cut back on your food as you need all the energy to heal your body and feed your bub. Enjoy carrying an extra few pounds, who cares…. the people who care about you think that you’re gorgeous just the way you are.
I am still carrying a few extra kilos after having my 3rd bub who is now 11 months. I have HEAPS of time to take the weight off. Don’t obsess, slow and steady wins the race!
Oh and the women on the magazine covers have a gazillion dollars and most probably have personal chefs and dieticians, personal trainers and plastic surgeons that are on call 24/7….. how boring!
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EXACTLY. I am driven bonkers by the “I didn’t make enough milk” line when you KNOW that they were dieting to get back “into shape”. By one year old, I’ve been thinner than when I have gotten pregnant each time, and with no extra effort on my part. I let the nursing babe do all the work! LOL.
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Yes!! I put on 25kg when pregnant, taking me from a size 8-10 to being quite rotund. Breastfeeding was a priority for me, so I didn’t do ANY ‘dieting’. I lost most of the weight within a few months, then felt a bit despondent when I was hovering 5kg or so above the pre-baby weight.
Well – fast forward, baby is turning one next week. Still breastfeeding lots, walking and babywearing most days for at least an hour is my only exercise, no dieting, and I am a few kg thinner now than I was pre-baby. And with better arms – from hauling the wriggler around!
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I LOVE your work on these types of issues Mia and Mamamia crew!
I do think that you have to be careful though not to generalise. Describing Jools and Pink as “normal” could also potentially be pretty alienating for lots of women, myself included, who did NOT look anything like that after giving birth.
I have plenty of friends who just like myself had basically flat stomachs within two weeks of giving birth and didn’t have to do anything drastic to get that way. I remember when my daughter was only three weeks old we took her to a party. I separated from my husband and daughter and was chatting to some strangers who were absolutely gobsmacked when my husband brought my crying daughter over to be fed. They could not believe that I had just had a baby and I certainly had not been flogging myself with exercise or dieting, I just shrunk back straight away. My brother in law was amazed how flat my stomach was when he came to meet my daughter in the delivery suite 30 minutes after delivery. Everyone is different.
I think that our differnces can be celebrated as well. I am 6 weeks away from giving birth to Number Two and just like my daughters pregnancy I have only gained 3 kilos, have no stretchmarks and am constantly being told how fantastic I look without having to do anything at all. In fact this time around I haven’t been able to exercise at all since I was 10 weeks pregnant due to severe pelvic and back problems and I eat cake every day!
All women are different and while I too cannot stand the photoshopped, pathetic images of celebrities in bikinis, there are actually some “real” and “normal” women who are lucky enough to bounce back quickly after the amazing pregnancy journey and I think that they have a right to not feel alienated as well
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Rene I agree with you 100% – tummies can and DO snap back with no dieting or exercising involved – and I’m speaking from my own personal experience. Frankly I’m so tired of comparisons and judgements made about women’s bodies – we are all built differently, and meant to be that way. I completely reject any notion of what it means to be a ‘real woman’ of ‘normal’ size. Enough already! Optimum health and vitality should be our number one priority.
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Same with me Rene. I was sensible and didn’t put on heaps of weight either. Although, some of my friends thought it was an excuse to eat junk non stop and then complained afterwards. Can’t have it both ways!!!
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Ohhh Rene. Boo hoo! Just kidding
But I do want to point out that feeling slightly alienated is probably less traumatic than believing there is something seriously, seriously wrong with you, and sobbing on the floor because you think your stomach is permanently damaged, like one woman I know – because she had seen ‘all those women in magazines coming home with their babies looking great!’
But I am very envious of you regardless.
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Well said, Rene. I was the same after having my daughter last year. We are all different, every woman’s body reacts differently during and after pregnancy. ‘Snapping back’ without dieting or exercising or surgery does not make you any less of a ‘real’ or ‘normal’ woman.
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Does anyone else get the feeling from the pic of Kendra that her baby is like an accessory? The way she is standing…there is no love, no cuddle…it’s like “You know what’s more important than anything else in the world right now? My kick arse body. What the hell is this thing on my arm?! Oh, that’s right, that baby I had. Cool, cool”.
The image I see of her is what I’d imagine in an ad for something like swimwear and a beach bag or towel. The accessory is just a bit of an aside. Baby obviously replaced by beach bag.
Not making a call on what type of mother she is or anything, I’m thinking more of the photo composition. Just made me feel weird when I looked at it!
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I was thinking the same thing, it looks like she is holding a loaf fo bread.
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12 weeks on from the birth of my son; I’m healthy, he’s healthy…he is wonderful actually. I’m not obsessing about my belly, but I am noticing that it is gradually shrinking a little each week. Instead, i’m using my energy to feed, change nappies, entertain and cuddle my beautiful little boy. I feel sorry for the women who focus so much on their post-baby bodies instead of the ever-amazing little creature that they have just brought into the world. They bring so much joy. Drop the magazines, I say and go cuddle your baby.
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Everyone is different and some woman may want to get their bodies ASAP to make them happier and in turn everyone around them happier.
I for one feel better in myself when i am back to my ‘pre preg’ weight – and whilst i am not ‘flogging’ myself to get fit and I certainly don’t feel like i am missing precious time with my bubs – i do need some ‘me time’ and exercise makes me feel ALIVE
Glad to hear all is going so well for you
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Just because someone wants to get back into exercising to get their body back in shape, doesn’t mean they aren’t focused on their new little baby! Of course for the first few weeks, you wouldn’t be getting back into it, but certainly (for me anyway) by 12 weeks I would need to be getting back to the gym for my own sanity and to feel good about about myself again
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Well done Mamamia for publishing these photos. I’m sure we won’t see these photos published in magazines. This is reality. This is how most women look after having a baby.
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It’s great that Pink and Jools show a different type of post-birth body than the kind plastered all over magazines.
But Mia – normal? We all know that there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ body. Every woman is different and every woman will look different having a baby. Declaring Pink and Jools to be ‘normal’ just alienates anybody else whose body looked different from them. A woman who does waltz out of hospital in her pre-pregnancy jeans or doesn’t cop a single stretch mark isn’t abnormal, she’s just different. If your issue is with post-birth tummy tucks and photoshopping of celebrities, you’ve already written that article.
Can’t we just appreciate that all women, all bodies are different? Yes, the monotony of the manipulated images shown in magazines isn’t helpful, but neither is presenting another image of what NORMAL mother’s bodies are supposed to look like post-birth. Just as everybody won’t look like Kendra, not everybody will look like Pink either, and they don’t need to feel that they are abnormal or wrong.
Why can’t you just celebrate the fact that everybody is different, rather than creating this sort of binary – normal and abnormal?
For anybody who was interested in celebrating ALL mother’s bodies, not just ones that Mia thinks are ‘normal’, go to http://theshapeofamother.com/ – it’s awesome.
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the comments below from people saying they had no idea this is what women look like after birth is the reason why these stories need to be told. the way women look in magazines is NOT NORMAL. in fact most of the time it doesn’t exist. it is a photo-shopped fiction.
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But we’ve already had that article – there is a link in this one.
The problem is that Mia is replacing one ‘normal’ with another, when there is no such thing as a normal way for a human body to look after having a baby. I know someone whose body did snap back within 48 hours of birth – washboard abs and everything. She’s not a fiction, she’s not photoshopped and she does exist.
Reject photoshop by all means, but taking two examples (Pink and Jools) and declaring them to be the norm is creating a fiction just as much as saying Kourtney and Kendra are the norm. Normal = difference, because we all are different. It would seriously be nice if I could read one article about body image on this site that just appreciated difference, without feeling the need to glorify or demonize people’s bodies.
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Have just spent a whole hour on the website you recommended. Should be compulsory viewing for anyone interested in real women not just photo-shopped and airbrushed fakes
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Having spent some time working a maternity ward, this is probably more “the norm” than the skinny women without stretch marks. They’re both normal, but the skinny one less common.
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Looking at these photos got me thinking – I had an “am I the only one?” moment — even though my belly looked exactly like Pink and Jools’ after I had my kids, I remember when I had my first shower after the births and looked down at my tummy I remember feeling like the thinnest person in the world! I mentioned this to my cousin who had her baby last year, and she says she thought the same thing. Anyone else have this feeling?
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Me too! Until I saw pictures later! Worth it though, children are a miracle..
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I loved that feeling! I felt so lithe and gorgeous with my ‘new’ tummy, I worked those hospital corridors like my catwalk.
I was delusional. The photos of myself afterwards now make me want to heave
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