Although a recent poll revealing 80% of mums feel pressure to lose weight after giving birth is quite tiny - 500 people - we suspect it may be indicative of a lot of new mums.
Conducted by Mycurvesandme.com and Babynames.co.uk, the survey comes after Simon Cowell’s partner Lauren Silverman was snapped at the weekend by the paparazzi showing a slim figure, and Instagram star Loni Jane made comments about women putting on weight during pregnancy.
Tamsin Kelly, editor of Parentdish.co.uk says: "It’s sad that women feel pressured to lose weight after pregnancy. The reality is your body has just achieved something amazing – making a baby – and I wish more of us allowed ourselves the time to celebrate our bodies’ strength and beauty in doing this. A wadgier waistline simply isn’t as important.
"We are sold an unfeasible image of lollipop lady celebs and their post pregnancy bodies – celebs whose ‘job’ is looking thin for TV and film. Ordinary women don’t have the luxury of disappearing from public view while they hone their figures with personal trainers and personal chefs."
In the same poll over 60% of women said that they loved their pregnancy body, suggesting that concerns over weight, stretch-marks and breast shape for many do not occur until after the birth of their child.
James Macfarlane of Babynames.co.uk said “The poll has highlighted a very serious issue of perception during pregnancy versus perception after birth. It seems many new mums felt it was okay to change shape and size during pregnancy, but as soon as the baby has been born, it’s not okay anymore. We want more and more new mums to realise that of course it’s more than okay to not snap back to a pre-pregnancy body within weeks after giving birth.”