parent opinion

For those saying Meghan Markle must be pregnant again, here are 27 real postpartum bodies.

 

This week, Meghan Markle left her house.

To be specific, the Duchess of Sussex is back at work alongside Prince Harry on the royal couple’s 2019 tour of South Africa, just under five months after giving birth to baby Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

The 38-year-old has jumped right back into advocating for causes close to her heart. So far on this tour, Meghan has met with local female technology entrepreneurs to discuss fostering young businesswomen, and delivered a powerful speech while visiting charity The Justice Desk, saying:

“I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour, and as your sister… the work that’s being done here is to keep women and children safer, which is needed now more than ever.”

meghan markle
Here's Meghan while on tour in South Africa. Image: Getty.
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Megan Martin Grant
The Duchess recycles a Martin Grant dress. Image: Getty Images.
meghan Markle
She also rewore this stunning blue shirt dress. Image: Getty.
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It's very important work, but you know what's even more important? Her body, some media outlets and social media users would argue. You see, they think her body has changed and would like everyone to know. They'd also like everyone to know she's obviously pregnant again because, stomach.

Oh, and she's re-wearing a lot of the outfits she wore when she was pregnant on the royal tour of Australia back in October, 2018. And wearing an outfit more than once is strange (??).

On Wednesday, New Idea reported Meghan Markle is currently experiencing a "second pregnancy shock". Royal fans are convinced she's up the duff because she made a "sweet nod to Archie's pregnancy," according to Express.

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Whether Meghan is pregnant or not, we don't know. But what we do know is, she's a new mum who birthed a small person, and undertaking such a task changes one's body. It also changes everyone's body differently. And just because some are of the opinion Meghan appears to not have 'bounced back' to her pre-pregnancy frame, that does not automatically mean there's another baby in her stomach.

Side note - Mamamia mums talk candidly about post-baby body expectations. Post continues after video.

Video by MMC

Sometimes, women eat things that make their tummies bigger. Doesn’t mean we’re pregnant.

Sometimes, women gave birth a few weeks ago. Or years ago, and they still don't recognise their bodies. Again, not preggo.

Sometimes, women wear shift dresses, bodycon styles or high- waisted pants with a shirt tucked in that, from the wrong angle, could make our stomachs appear rounder. Sometimes, it’s literally just your body shape.

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Women have stomachs, FUPAs and pouches, not because they’re pregnant, and also not because they haven’t 'lost their baby weight yet'.

Sometimes, women are pregnant, but aren’t ready to tell the world yet because they’re scared they might lose their baby. Then there’s the women who can’t get pregnant at all, which makes any conversations around is she or isn’t she even more painful.

And sometimes, the wind blows or we take a deep breath and, yep, we’re still… not pregnant.

Thanks to the shiny, filtered world of Instagram, it feels like we’ve forgotten what stomachs that don’t have babies growing in them actually look like. Thankfully, the tide is changing and more and more women with public followings are choosing to depict post-partum life, adult nappies and all.

 

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To reset the balance and make sure we’re all on the same page, here are 20 photos of women postpartum to serve as a reminder that post-baby bodies can be flat, round, squishy, wobbly, strong, sticky outy and everything in between.

They can also be pregnant, but best not to assume, eh?

postpartum body
"I am the same weight as I was in the weeks after birth, but here I am, finally a premiership medal around my neck, playing the sport I love." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"Women’s bodies are incredible. I had 6cm abdominal separation and a minor prolapse. Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"Four days after having baby no four and my 4th c-section . People come in all different shapes and sizes. No one body looks the same!" Image: Supplied.
postpartum body
"13 months postpartum on our wedding night! I spent months agonising over how I would look in my dress. When it came time to put it on, I felt beautiful. Post-baby belly and all." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
This is what six weeks post-bub looked like for me. #whateverittakes." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"I'm six months post bub #2 here... body shape very much still curvy and mum tum. Who cares??" Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"That time I took my first baby, 10 days old, to a friend's wedding and tried to look like a functioning human. (Spoiler - I was not, in fact, a functioning human.)" Image: Supplied.
postpartum body
"I remember being so self conscious of my tummy in these pictures even though it was only six weeks after I had my son." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"I think more people need to see cesarean scars to remove the stigma." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"First Mother's Day as a mum of 4, I had a 4.5yo, 2.5yo & 8wk old twins." Image: Supplied.
postpartum body
"I gained 12kg whilst pregnant, I'm proud of my body before and after, either way." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"It took longer to get the tummy muscles sorted after my second baby, but you can see it's a good resting spot for the babies!" Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"I’m 3 months PP and have never loved my body more! I have always hated my body - especially my stomach! Once I got pregnant and saw how amazing the human body is, I saw my body in a completely different way." Image: Supplied.
postpartum body
"I have a 4 finger ab separation, bigger size clothes, aged about 10 years from lack of sleep and I am more comfortable in my skin than ever before." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"Two years, two months after having my bub." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"My first day out of the house after giving birth. I only made it to the end of my street, but I wasn’t pregnant anymore and it felt GREAT." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"4 weeks postpartum and I felt amazing here. In my SRC recovery tights and nursing bra." Image: Supplied.
postpartum body
"This is me 11 months postpartum. I had twins and my focus was them." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"This is 1 month pp with my little boy. I forced those jeans up, but it was the first time I didn’t feel puffy and squishy in a really long time." Image: Supplied.
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postpartum body
"Me two years and three months after my first baby." Image: Supplied.

Thank you to all the brilliant members of the Mamamia community who supplied their images and thoughts for this story. We see you. We appreciate you. You rock.

How does seeing Meghan Markle's post-baby body make you feel? Tell us what you think in the comments!