With those seemingly endless middle-of-the-night feeds combined with growing piles of dirty laundry and pressure to "bounce back" to your pre-baby body, being a new parent can be tough. Thankfully, celebrities like Ashley Graham are on a mission to dispel the notion that your postpartum body needs to change – and we couldn't be happier about it!
Taking to social media last week, model and mum-of-three Ashley shared an unedited video with her 18.4 million followers in which she proudly shows off her postpartum body. And yep, she's wearing nothing but underwear.
"Posting this video for all the mamas who haven’t and may never 'bounce back' and for anyone who needs to be reminded that your body is beautiful in its realest form," she said in a caption alongside the clip. "This is my strong, five-month-postpartum-been-pregnant-for-two-years body. As it is."
Pointing out why she decided to share the video, the 34-year-old said that she: "Hopes to further normalize ALL bodies in every and any stage of life."
Her message clearly went down a treat with fans, who flocked to the comments section to praise the model for her honest outlook on postpartum body confidence. "I love this so much. Women’s bodies don’t need to 'bounce back'; we’re people, not trampolines!" said one fan, as another person commented: "Love this. Because most celebrities show their quick 'bounce back' and it's not a reality for most women."
A third person replied to her empowering post by saying, "Each and every one of us in every stage is a Work. Of. Art."
Everyone's clicking on...
But, this isn't the first time that Ashley has opened up about her post-birth body. Earlier this year the model told Glamour that having kids had "reshaped" her relationship with her body.
"I say this knowing that I am the person who has been shouting from the rooftops to you all, 'Love the skin you’re in.' Yet for me, the births of all my three children threw a lot of that out of the window," she said. "I work in an industry that expects me to return to work in a body that has 'snapped back' – a pressure that no woman, in any industry, deserves to feel. I have always fought against unfair and unrealistic standards and yet, if I am being completely honest, here I was, expecting myself to snap back. And fast."
Despite battling with this pressure, Ashley revealed that by sharing her experience with other new parents on social media, and by speaking kindly to herself through affirmations, she's been able to fall in love with her body again. "I've learned it’s okay if the journey to love the skin you’re in is more complex than you could ever have imagined," she added. But, she says, "I am bold, I am brilliant, I am beautiful... we all are."
