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Post Mother’s Day, New Mothers Redefine ‘Perfect’ Pregnancy Bodies

New mothers are sharing unfiltered pictures of their postpartum bodies to encourage body positivity.

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A woman’s body is always up for scrutiny, especially when she is pregnant.

To redefine societal expectations, one woman in the US shared a photo of her unfiltered postpartum body. What started as an innocuous post snowballed into a social media movement soon after, with many new mothers sharing pictures of their ‘honest’ bodies.

Meg Boggs, the creator of the #this_is_postpartum movement, told CNN that she was struggling with a negative body image and “felt as if my postpartum journey and body didn’t count.”

View this post on Instagram

This skin grew and stretched out many years ago. Then it shriveled down as much as it possibly could when it had every fad thrown it’s way. Not long after, this skin grew and stretched out once again to create room for my favorite tiny human to grow. And here is that same skin now. Accompanied by marks and rolls and cellulite. It isn’t the kind of skin you’ll see in ads. And most likely not on any magazine covers. When and if you do, it will spark controversy and send the internet into a frenzy. Forcing anyone who looks like this to feel less than and like they shouldn’t be allowed to be anything but invisible. But we’re out here living. Women and mothers like me. Searching for the key to self-love and accepting our bodies without being forced to morph into the ads and magazine covers. And searching for the healthy balance of changing our bodies without reaching a point of hating it into that change. So for the woman and mama who doesn’t see herself in the ad. Or on the magazine cover. Who struggles looking in the mirror. Who beat herself up after having the dessert. Who didn’t bounce back. Who missed her workout. Who didn’t reach her goal this time. Who decided not to go because of the swimsuit. Who cried in the dressing room. Who just doesn’t feel like herself lately. This is for you. This is for us. You are seen. You are worthy. You are enough. You are so much more than the way you look. #this_is_postpartum

A post shared by Meg Boggs (@meg.boggs) on

Boggs started with an Instagram post where she wrote she was searching for the key to self-love and reaching out to other new moms who can’t look in the mirror to tell them that, “you are seen, you are worthy and you are so much more than the way you look.”

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To CNN, she added, “ To my surprise, my messages flooded with positivity and things like ‘I needed this today.’”

New mothers are sharing unfiltered pictures of their postpartum bodies to encourage body positivity.
Women of all sizes share pictures of their pregnancy bodies
(Photo Courtesy: Instagram/#this_is_postpartum)

Boggs then asked other mothers to join the movement and soon the hashtag #this_is_postpartum saw women of all sizes and stages in their pregnancy/after-birth sharing pictures of their body. The hashtag already has over 4,000 posts from women across the world.

New mothers are sharing unfiltered pictures of their postpartum bodies to encourage body positivity.
New mothers are sharing unfiltered pictures of their postpartum bodies to encourage body positivity.
New mothers are sharing unfiltered pictures of their postpartum bodies to encourage body positivity.
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Meghan Markle Also Praised for ‘Body Positivity’ Post Pregnancy

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, on 6 May, gave birth to her and Prince Harry’s first child, a son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

Twitter lit up with praise to mention the royal’s choice of clothing when the couple revealed their son to the world for the first time. Markle wore a stylish trench dress that flaunted her postpartum body.

Markle was praised for sending new moms’ a body positive message, and keeping it real.

(With inputs from CNN)

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