Anyone who has ever given birth will more than likely admit to not feeling bikini ready right away once baby has arrived.
But we are not all cut from the same cloth as we know, something new mama Irina Shayk, who just welcomed her first baby with actor Bradley Cooper, just proved in one candid Instagram snap.
The model, who gave birth to daughter Lea de Seine last month, shared a sexy picture of herself floating about in a dreamy pool on a lip-shaped floaty. Looking at her toned, tanned limbs and oh-my-Gawd-was-there-even-a-baby-in-there flat stomach, it is hard to imagine Shayk gave birth only weeks ago.
And with the hashtag, #currentsituation, there is no mistaking the snap for a throwback image either – meaning, of course, the model has snapped back to her pre-baby shape remarkably quickly.
However, as always happen when celebrities do anything at all and share a picture of it, the internet was soon alight with comments and opinions, many featuring some mixed reactions to the model’s social media update.
Because while many were praising Shayk for snapping quickly back into shape, others were far more critical, claiming that the model was promoting some very unrealistic post-partum body expectations.
And then there were the new mum shamers too, of course, who questioned out loud why Shayk chose to share a bikini snap of herself rather than one of her brand new baby.
We think body confidence is one beautiful thing – but as the majority of women who have ever been pregnant and given birth know, getting back to your pre-baby weight within a few weeks of giving birth is not the case for most of us. It is a process, often a rather lengthy one too.
There is an enormous amount of pressure these days on new mums to snap back into shape within weeks of having a baby – a pressure that has only been heightened by social media and the reach it has. Let’s remember how we all have different bodies to begin with, how much weight we gain and how much we are able to exercise throughout pregnancy varies too, as does how quickly we shed the weight gained once baby arrives.
In the words of Anne Hathaway, who put it this way in a conversation with Ellen DeGeneres last year: “The only appropriate thing to say to any new mum is: ‘You look great!'”
