Not sparing the abdomen: What is wrong with the perception of the female body after giving birth
Text: Margarita Virova, Olga Lukinskaya
Many women face a situation when the expected infinite happiness associated with motherhood does not occur: pregnancy, childbirth and further life with a newborn turn into complex and not always pleasant processes. In particular, women’s relationships with their bodies change: each experiences a recovery period and is different for everyone. However, for some reason, its features are often reduced exclusively to weight gain and weight gain — both women and their environment, and the media like to view life after giving birth exclusively from such a narrow angle.
Even the return of the abdomen to a flat one depends not only on a strong press, but also on how quickly the distended uterus contracts - and you cannot influence it.
We have already written a lot about pregnancy and childbirth - and in the future we will write more. And although there is a lot of information, the process is still surrounded by myths from “give birth to - pass” to “caesarean section - for the lazy”. A discussion of the effects of pregnancy rarely goes beyond the “overweight” stamps. Worship before the stars makes its own adjustments to the formation of popular representations. Celebrity pregnancy is a big info page, a subject of interest, which is supported by fans and gives an opportunity to raise the rating to everyone, even very conditionally involved in the event. The first photographs of newborns are traditionally sold to the press for a lot of money, and the mother’s first exit after pregnancy is an event to which the attention of hundreds of publications about social life and countless fans is riveted.
Everything ends, however, with the same discussion: those who have lost weight are praised and supported, and those whose ten to fifteen to twenty kilograms with the birth of a child have not withered by magic are criticized for “too” fitting outfits. The most popular instagram attraction is the efforts of popular fitness bloggers: they come back into shape with lightning speed and generously sprinkle with tips that in reality are suitable and help not everyone, if you are not a fitness blogger, of course.
Meanwhile, corrosive audience is difficult to please, and the trained bodies of fitness specialists are subjected not only to hot approval, but also to fierce censure. If, during pregnancy, the abdominal muscles that have been trained do not allow the abdomen to be distributed in size, the woman is at best declared a wonder (this kind of headlines went to Hannah Polites), at worst they are declared selfish, starving for a figure (which is an amazing conclusion) to the detriment of the unborn child ; this was the case, for example, with Sarah Stage, the owner of a two millionth audience. A popular genre — documenting postnatal success in “pumping” the body — is also perceived ambiguously by many: someone puts efforts on a pedestal, and someone declares bloggers as “fake” mothers.
The story of Tammy Hembrow is indicative: her photo, laid out after the birth of her first child, was declared the obvious product of image editors. When, after the second birth, the blogger showed the fitness-compliant body, paying attention to the stretch marks on her stomach, her colleagues, beauty journalists and admirers, it was perceived as a revolution without five minutes.
Do not forget that all people are different in principle - and it may be more difficult or easier to return to the previous form and prone to being overweight or thin. Sometimes the metabolism after pregnancy and childbirth varies greatly, and then how lucky. In addition, not everyone puts the program "back to the future" in the first place: many are completely comfortable in their new body. It turns out that women are often criticized or praised for not particularly dependent on them, and without asking for their opinions. Even the return of the abdomen to a flat one depends not only on a strong press and a low percentage of fat, but also on how quickly the distended uterus contracts - and the woman cannot influence this.
Even in the absence of tears, the discomfort is aggravated - both the perineum, and the filling chest, and the location of the epidural anesthesia hurt.
By the way, women who are passionate about sports are also not immune from sudden weight gains. As well as from more significant and unobvious changes - from the behavior of hormones to exacerbation of diseases. It is not customary to talk a lot and loudly about how childbirth, which is considered to be difficult, takes place - and after all, recovery after vaginal ruptures (and, accordingly, healing of the stitches imposed on them) or cesarean section is much more important than taking care of the "extra" kilograms.
The first days or even weeks after giving birth is a time with many new, strange, painful or at least foreign sensations. Not everyone can go to the podium twenty days after giving birth, like Natalya Vodyanova - and from this fact alone it is early to draw any conclusions about the woman's well-being. Even in the absence of tears or other complications due to lack of sleep and general stress, the discomfort intensifies - both the perineum, breast-filling breasts, and the place of injecting epidural anesthesia or installing a catheter on the arm hurt.
It becomes painful for some to do the simplest things: to sit without a special pillow, to move, sneeze and cough, to go to the toilet; breastfeeding can even provoke "contractions" - these things were told, for example, by the heroines of our material. Add to this the global turn in life - the appearance of a new person in the family, which you need to take care of and to which you need to get used to. In this situation, it is usually not up to thoughts about how to return the old figure - to find in the refrigerator something that you can eat and satisfy your hunger without leaving your baby.
For many, the return to the previous form and the ability to wear your favorite clothes help to feel calm - it makes it clear that the situation is under control, that you are coping with what is happening, and you are coping well. But it is good when these processes do without external evaluations. In general, it is important that information about how to live after giving birth is not limited to the post-pregnancy form of the mother and suspiciously happy photos with the baby. There are already too many kinds of pressure faced by pregnant and giving birth women - so why not deal with the annoying condemnation of their appearance at the same time? In the end, the body, which, like a 3D printer, has printed a new person, is already admirable.