Stop Comparing Pregnant Bodies to Fit and Thin Bodies

Let’s talk ladies. I keep seeing these pictures on Instagram and my Facebook page and I have to get really REAL with you. I continuously come across pictures of Before and After photos of women’s bodies but the BEFORE pictures are women who are 9 months pregnant.  It really isn’t so much the after pictures that have me cringing, don’t get me wrong, I am high fiving you all the way on the hard work you put into getting your body the way you want it to be. Mama, you were nine months pregnant, you were carrying your beautiful child. Your body was doing amazing things. Do not think for a second that your 9 month pregnant belly is anything but gorgeous and so miraculous.

I understand that transformation that has ensued from the 9 month pregnant and about to pop photo to the one where the woman is fit and thin. I get the hard work that this lady has put into her body to getting it in shape. I rejoice with you that you are one proud mama of your transformed body after having a baby. But when we use the before picture of a 9 month pregnant lady as a “before” we are promoting that her round belly is overweight, unappealing, and fat.

Please STOP thinking that the before picture of you was overweight or a “fatter” version of yourself. Mama, you were pregnant. You were carrying a beautiful baby that was in your belly. Don’t compare yourself to when you were pregnant to the now body that you have, they are on two different levels, a beautiful baby was inside your body and now it is outside in your arms. 

It is HEALTHY to gain weight while pregnant. It is completely fine and accepted that your body is going to be different than it was prior to being pregnant. Even if you ate extremely healthy food and worked out during the whole pregnancy, the end results at 9 months will be the same, a big round belly. Your round belly is a sign that there is a little baby growing inside and that you are bringing life into this world. It is not to be shamed in feeling that you are “fat” by any means. Every person carries their baby different and every pregnancy will not look alike. Be proud of yourself and the 9 months you went through carrying your baby. It should not be used as a before picture. 

Showing these images side by side are perpetuating body shaming of women who are pregnant. They are making society think and promote that a pregnant body is someone who needs to change and who needs to “transform”. They are making us all go a little crazy and putting mass amounts of pressure on ourselves to gain as little weight as possible while pregnant.  It is showing women that their pregnant bodies should be a “before” a bad example of what we should look like. You made a human being and it should be celebrated. Pregnancy is a miracle and a beautiful experience.

While we are on this subject let’s chat about your postpartum bodies. It hurts my heart that there is so much stigma and pressure around bouncing back or losing the baby weight on ALL of us. It hurts my hurt that moms everywhere are feeling self-conscious about their body after birth. Hear me loud and clear when I say that you are absolutely beautiful. It is unfair to be holding yourself to unrealistic society standards, so DON’T! Give yourself grace and love your body for what is has done and what it will do for you and your baby. Be healthy in the ways that you want to be and forget everything else that society is telling us. 

My voice might be unpopular opinion, people might yell at me for writing this all down and putting out into the world or challenge me on this subject. But, this is just my perspective and I feel empowered to speak up for all the women who are done with society standards of what our bodies should look like while pregnant and what they should look after. Let’s post photos on your feeds of our pregnant bellies, alone, standing tall, and proud. Let’s post photos of our body postpartum, c-section scars, stretch marks and all. Let’s post photos of our tight and toned bods and share the story behind of what it took to get there. But, let’s stop comparing our pregnant bodies side by side to our thin and fit bodies. 

Let’s all raise our hands in the air, emoji style, for our pregnant bodies, for our post baby bodies and everything in between. You are perfect, big round belly and all!