Mums are sharing how they looked seven hours after giving birth in comparison to the Duchess of Cambridge, who looked radiant as she stepped out the Lindo Wing on Monday 23 April.
The Duchess gave birth at 11.01am that day, and appeared on the steps of the private maternity unit at 6pm, introducing her son to the world.
BBC Woman’s Hour presenter Jane Garvey tweeted to say how “amazing” Kate looked, saying that most women post-birth look like a “sack of spuds”. “If you’re willing to share your truth, tweet us,” she wrote on 24 April.
And mums responded to the tweet with their own recollections of how they looked after giving birth.
“Me and Kate seven hours postnatal. I’m the one on the right, in case you’re wondering,” one mum tweeted.
Another mum wrote: “This is me, 18 hours after giving birth. Massive post-partum haemorrhage, several units of blood and emergency surgery, and I still look like death warmed up. Note pale skin, swelling and general exhaustion.”
Another mum shared a photo of herself asleep while holding her baby, writing: “Seven hours post-birth and weeks of recovery needed after!”
Many other mums followed suit.
Another mum encouraged others not to be ashamed of what they looked like after giving birth, “I’m proud of this photo and don’t care what I looked like,” she tweeted. “How we look right after we have our babies is not important - there are more important things to focus on. I enjoyed watching the clips of the Duchess yesterday and hope people can be happy for her.”
And others shied away from sharing photos of themselves, instead posting memes on Twitter exaggerating how bad they thought they looked after having a baby.