People Tend to Discuss a Woman’s Postpartum Body, But New Moms Can Feel Hurt From Both Positive and Negative Comments
It seems that two contradictory trends regarding new moms co-exist in the modern world. The first one is all about body positivity, while the other one prompts new mothers to get back in shape a couple of months after childbirth.
New moms are often influenced by snapback culture and expect others to say admiringly, “Wow, you’ve got back in shape after childbirth so quickly!” This happens because they subconsciously try to copy opinion leaders on social media who publish their photos during pregnancy and then show how easily they can get back in shape.
It might seem that the process of losing extra weight doesn’t require much effort because some celebrities’ photos claim that. We can see a celebrity sporting a big baby bump, and in another photo, she’s already rolling a stroller and wearing a tight T-shirt.
But according to doctors, the snapback culture followers put their health at serious risk. They believe in the misleading information that postpartum women should take care of their physical shape in the first place. But in reality, the things they should really care about are their physical, and mental health and building a connection with their baby.
According to studies, a woman gets a chance to relax and stop thinking about beauty standards during pregnancy. But after childbirth, new moms tend to get all their anxieties back.
New mothers are most sensitive to other people’s judgemental comments about their bodies. In some cases, this can lead to postpartum depression.
But how are you supposed to feel if everyone you know tends to assess your looks and seems to compare your “before” and “after” body when they meet you?
Celebrities also have to participate in this race even if they don’t want to. Fans and journalists tend to discuss how the body of a celebrity has changed after childbirth. Interestingly, there are two possible opinions: “She’s become a mom and embraced her new body” and “She looks great, you can’t even tell that she had a baby.”
Usually, body positivity is the opposite of snapback culture. And it seems that this is the right way to think because body-positive people don’t expect a new mom to look like a model. They support new moms in all possible ways and tell them that their body looks attractive no matter whether she’s gained weight or got stretch marks, etc.
This is what happened to Rihanna, who became a mom in 2022. After a short break, the singer’s name began to appear in tabloids headlines. But the reason for this was not her professional achievements or the release of her new album, the reason was her postpartum body. And as it usually happens, some media hinted that the celebrity should get back in shape, while others praised Rihanna for her body-positivity views.
Actress Jennifer Garner also had to deal with a similar situation. The changes that her body was going through were discussed both while she was pregnant and after childbirth to the extent that one of the journalists even mistakenly decided that the actress was expecting her fourth child.
So, the question arises: Why do people care so much about what a woman’s body looks like? It’s only the woman’s decision whether she wants to embrace her new body or lose weight immediately, whether she wants to run to a stylist and beautician right after giving birth or pay no attention to pigment spots on her body and wear her hair in a simple ponytail.
After all, we are all different, and this means that pregnancy and postpartum recovery go in our own way. Some women give birth naturally, while others go through C-sections after which they have to be very careful about their bodies.
According to some studies, a woman’s body can take a year to heal properly. Also, the body changes after childbirth and simply can’t bounce back to the way it was before. So, during this period, a woman should focus on her own health and on her baby, and not on meeting social expectations.
During this hard time, moms are simply unable to love their bodies and stay positive. According to psychologists, it’s an impossible task for many pregnant women and new moms. They can’t admire their reflection in the mirror because they haven’t yet adapted to the changes in their body. They may feel like there is something wrong with them and feel depressed about it.
And it’s great if there is a person that can support them during this time. This person can be another new mom, for example. This was how Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley became friends. They host a YouTube channel called I Mom So Hard, where they talk about their husbands and kids, relaxing techniques, and whether it’s okay to wear a swimsuit on the beach after childbirth.
“We are just a couple of moms getting it wrong but laughing our way through it. We’ll talk about all of it. The good, the bad, the brags, the embarrassing. No judgment,” Kristin and Jen say.
Actress Sandra Bullock also says that we should stop discussing a woman’s body, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s to praise or to criticize. Once, she even asked people to stop gossiping about women’s age and appearance. She mentioned that both adult women and teenage girls suffer from such critical comments on social media.
Sandra Bullock is raising a son, Louis, and tries to teach him to respect women. The actress believes that you should pay more attention to a person’s achievements rather than to their body.
After all, our body changes throughout our entire life. And we don’t know what a woman has been through during pregnancy and childbirth. This is why we want to believe that one day there will no longer be judgemental comments like “Oh, she’s lost so much weight” or “You should think about getting back in shape.”
Have you ever heard anyone speaking negatively about your body? What do you think about such comments? Tell us in the comments below.