While a number of online parenting communities are supportive, that doesn’t stop people from making rude or insensitive comments.
After sharing her a photo of her postpartum body on Reddit, one mom sparked a debate about body-shaming and inclusivity with her post.
As most people know, a woman’s body goes through a number of changes during pregnancy.
Physically, women tend to experience weight gain and an increase in their overall body fat.
Not to mention that a pregnant woman will see an increase in the body’s volume of blood, have her organs shift to accommodate the growing baby, and deal with a number of other physical and mental changes.
For many new moms, some of the more noticeable changes are new stretch marks during and after pregnancy, and loose skin in the abdominal area after giving birth.
These changes are extremely common and normal for any woman who has given birth.
A lot of new moms are taking to social media to share their postpartum bodies.
Some are documenting their journey as they return to working out, and others just want to show the world that this is what their mom bod looks like.
A popular place for many new moms to seek support and chat with others is Reddit.
Reddit has a number of parenting specific subreddits (communities devoted to specific topics that people can join). One of the most popular subreddits for parents is called r/BeyondTheBump
A mom’s recent photo of her postpartum body sparked a debate in that subreddit.
Reddit user Csmbird shared this image to the subreddit, along with the caption, “9 months post partum belly. Baby 2 (Daughter is 9 years, Son is 9 Months.)Haven’t worked out since having little fella but I had ran and weightlifted years up until I was 30 weeks pregnant. I also breastfeed and have been vegetarian for 14 years.”
Even though photos like this have been shared in the subreddit before, it was met with body-shaming comments.
One user wrote, “Congrats on being conventionally attractive, I guess? This comes off as a super tone-deaf version of “all lives matter” in the postpartum body acceptance moment that’s happening in this sub.”
Other users chimed in to defend the photo.
“I don’t think that’s fair. This implies she should almost be ashamed of the fact that she doesn’t look like what this sub has deemed an appropriate postpartum appearance,” said one user.
The debate was a good reminder that every postpartum body is different and every mom’s journey is different.
“Why can she not join in on what everyone else is doing? Maybe she is struggling also, maybe she’s proud of her body too. Who are you to tear her down? This is a horrible comment,” said another user.
Since some of the negative comments have circulated, a number of people have praised this mom for sharing her photo.
She has also responded to the controversy in a new Reddit post saying, “Prior to posting this I thought I might get some kickback however I thought we were doing a post partum love fest with our photos. Apparently to some it was only meant for a certain group of people?”
Despite a few negative comments, the original poster is keeping a positive attitude about the whole situation.
She went on to say that she hopes the subreddit can continue supporting each other instead of “breaking each other down”.
