Fearne Cotton said she has learned to love her body after giving birth to two children, including her “saggy lower tummy”.
The 35-year-old presenter, who is mum to Rex, four, and Honey, one, with her husband Jesse Wood, said she feels the first six months after having a baby is when mums are most likely to be negative about how they look.
“It’s those months when you’re breastfeeding and you wet yourself every time you go for a run,” she told HuffPost UK.
“When you’re breastfeeding your boobs are massive and leaky, you don’t feel like you as much, but you learn to accept the bits that have changed or, if there are bits that you really don’t like about yourself, then you do something about it.
“I still now have a saggy lower tummy that’s excess skin, but you have to learn to love all those things.”
Cotton said she was more nervous about how her body would change during her second pregnancy, because she was aware of how long it took to recover from birth.
She said she wasn’t nervous about putting on weight, but knew it would take a long time to feel like herself again.
The mum-of-two said the pressure to “get back into shape” after having a baby comes from mums themselves.
“The media will always show certain images and films will always depict a certain type of woman, but no one is telling us to do anything,” she said.
“We have to be accountable for the amount of pressure we apply to ourselves and go with that.
“If you feel like you’re desperate to get back into your skinny jeans then that’s your prerogative. If you don’t and you’re quite happy in your new swing of life, then go with that. But we do have to recognise that it’s only coming from us.”
Giving advice to mums who feel insecure about their bodies after giving birth, she said: “I think you have two options: Either accept [your body] or try to change, and it’s that simple.
“There’s no pressure in either way of doing it, but you’ve got to commit to one of those, and if you accept, amazing, if you still feel unhappy about some bits, then you don’t have to go back to the way you were before but you can certainly try some different activities and see if that works for you.
“I do both, some bits I accept and some bits I work at improving.”
Aside from viewing her body differently since she has become a mum, Cotton said parenthood has opened up new opportunities for her. The TV presenter has recently designed a children’s clothing range for Boots Mini Club ‘Fearne By Fearne Cotton’.
“I could never have worked with Boots before having kids, because I didn’t understand what worked well for children,” she said.
“Whereas I get my kids dressed probably two or three times a day because they’re constantly covered in stuff, so I know for me what works, and what is comfortable, wearable and what I like aesthetically.
“Parenthood brings you to a new group of people you may not have engaged with before because you are a mum like them.
“I’ve been doing my job since I was 15 so the people who watched me then have grown with me, so of course you’re going to change your lifestyle and how you live. But being a mum does lead you naturally into new exciting areas.”
Fearne Cotton’s new children’s range ‘Fearne By Fearne Cotton’ exclusive to Boots Mini Club, will be available from 30 August. Please visit www.boots.com/baby-child/kids-clothes-mini-club.
