Mums are proudly sharing their post-baby bodies online
New hashtag makes waves on Instagram
A new hashtag is gaining momentum on Instagram as women share pics of their post-baby bodies.
#this_is_postpartum was started by Meghan Boggs, a plus-sized blogger who wanted to make sure all mothers felt happy and proud to share images of their bodies after having babies.
“Even though I worked out and ate healthy until I was 36 weeks pregnant, I still gained almost all of my weight back, putting me right back at square one,” Meghan told Babble.com
“I didn’t have any complications throughout my pregnancy, but I was feeling frustrated with my body for gaining the weight back despite my efforts.”
When scrolling through Instagram she realized there was a dearth of images of plus-sized women.
“I always feel as though plus-size mothers are never part of the postpartum conversation,” the mom explains. “So many mothers like me just don’t feel comfortable enough to share their heart and journey.”
The goal of #this_is_postpartum is to be inclusive of all mums, and mothers everywhere have begun sharing images and words that show and describe their post-baby bodies.
“All of our life stories are so different,” Meghan wrote in a recent Instagram post. “There will never be a time where you can simply glance at someone and know everything about their body and their life.
“We don’t need to feel depressed if we gained more than 35 pounds during our pregnancy or if we struggle with our postpartum weight. We don’t need to feel judged by whether we workout or not. We can love ourselves hard in however we navigate through motherhood and are allowed to feel happiness and joy while we do it.”
Recently another mum reached out to Meghan to share just how important this movement had been to her.
“Over the summer, I received a direct message that honestly changed me,” Meghan says.
“It was a mother who was responding to one of my posts where I’m sharing about loving my body. She was contemplating ending her life at four months postpartum, but [she] read my words and second guessed herself.”
The new mum had struggled with how her post-baby body looked, but after connecting with Meghan the two spent hours chatting online, bonding over the struggles they faced.
“Just because something doesn’t change millions of lives or change the entire world doesn’t mean it can’t change just one. And every life is a life worth saving,” Meghan says.
Nicola Conville has worked as a journalist and editor for more than 20 years across a wide range of print and online publications. Her areas of expertise are parenting, health and travel. She has two children; Lucy, age eight, and Nathan, age five.
