People are LOVING this mum for sharing her postpartum belly a day after birth
Queensland midwife and now mum-of-two Hannah Polites has been tracking her little one’s arrival on Instagram over the last few days.
Welcoming baby Arlo
Hannah shared a photo of herself and family as she was about to head off to hospital. Then several of herself in labour and of her new arrival, a tiny boy named Arlo.
They are all gorgeous to be honest, capturing the excitement and emotion of welcoming a new little life.
Now, a side-by-side pair of photos Hannah’s shared of herself after she gave birth is attracting lots of attention.
The images show the new mum at almost-full term and then alongside it a photo of her shortly after she’s given birth.
“A little confronting”
Hannah’s hoping to spark discussion about what postpartum bellies can look like and bust the ‘bouncing back’ myth once and for all.
“38 weeks pregnant / 24hrs post birth,” she captioned the post on Instagram. “Although a little confronting for me, I want to be as real as possible with you all and share my postpartum body journey exactly how it is.”
“I was tired, pale and a little sore but so proud of what I’d just achieved the day before,” she continued. “The human body is so amazing and I’m so thankful that mine was able to grow, birth and now nurture my boy.”
Celebrating her life-creating body was top-of-mind for Hannah, and returning to her pre-pregnancy shape was not.
“I’m in no rush to ‘bounce back,’” she wrote, “and will just be focusing on my family and new baby, not exercising for at least 6 weeks.”
A tender moment
Hannah’s followers LOVED her for this and shared their own stories about how women’s bodies recover from birth during the so-called ‘fourth trimester’.
“After mum had me, people knocked on her door to sell her stuff and then asked her when she was due,” one woman wrote.
“This is honestly such an amazing post especially for women that don’t bounce back or know that ‘bouncing back’ days after is a myth,” another follower posted.
“Such a tender moment to share,” one fan commented. “So many women look at their post-baby bodies in shame and it warms my heart so much to see this.”
It warmed our hearts too!
Brilliant work, Hannah – and congratulations to the whole family on the birth of beautiful baby Arlo!