"I Don't Like What I See." Real Mamas Talk Body Image After Baby

During pregnancy, the body changes so quickly that it can leave expectant mothers with mixed feelings on their bodies. When we asked you how you felt about your body during pregnancy over on Instagram, your response was pretty split: half of you loved it, and the other half weren't the biggest fan. We want you to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with not loving every single thing about your changing pregnancy body. Of course, pregnancy is not a permanent state, but change can be hard! 

The battle for body confidence is very real for new mamas too. We promise you, you’re not alone and these feelings don’t have to last forever. In fact, the majority of women struggle with their body image after giving birth (84% of you said you did!), so if you're not feeling like your most confident self right now, you're not alone.

Today, we're sharing the stories of three women with three very different experiences. Everyone's motherhood journey is unique, and each woman's relationship with her body is unique, too. These are their stories.

Sabrina

USA

For a while, I felt like my body was ruined. Although I did lose all of my “baby weight”, my breasts and stomach had wrinkles and stretch marks all over. My body, that was once toned, was now flabby, loose skin. I hated it. 

My stomach having the most visible “imperfections”, I set my mind on finding a way to cover them up. A tattoo maybe? Surgery to remove my stretch marks? Then my husband helped me realize how perfect my imperfections were. My body housed two perfect little boys. It kept them warm, kept them safe.. it created them. 

How could I hate anything that gave me my babies? 

Irish

Phillippines

I never felt more beautiful, sexy, and comfortable with my body than when I was pregnant.

It made me feel like I was glowing everyday. It was full of happiness and excitement seeing my belly grow.

The fact that the whole purpose of my body was to nurture another being felt so great! 

Katja

Slovenia

Being a dancer, I’ve always been very aware of my body, how it works and also how it looks. Besides dancing and teaching dance, I’ve been working out 3 times per week and going for walks with my dogs. When being home, I cook and bake a lot and I try to eat healthy and local

And for some reason, sometimes I don’t like what I see in the mirror. It’s something that is very hard to understand cause it doesn’t really have a rational explanation. No matter how hard you work for it, it will never be good enough. Yes, I’ve changed, from the inside out. I’m different. I’m a MOTHER. We need to accept and respect our bodies, they are the most perfect creation ever built.

Rather than us telling you how to Shape Your Pregnancy, we want to put the power in your hands. This January, we’re launching the Shape My Pregnancy campaign, and we want your voices to be front and center.

This will become Baby2Body’s central focus for 2021, and you will see us talking about #ShapeMyPregnancy across everything that we do. Why? Because we want you to take control of your pregnancy, own it, and have the tools to feel empowered to do so. If you can relate to any of these stories, head over to our Instagram to tell us about how you shaped your pregnancy!

Cover image:  Kaja Zmajevska, @kajazmajevskastudio