Following along with our favorite celebrities on social media means that we see a lot of perfectly curated baby photos, gorgeous maternity shoots, and impressive nurseries filled with baby gear that most of us "regular" people couldn't possibly afford. But sometimes, celeb moms get real with us, too. No matter how famous you are, the postpartum experience definitely comes with certain challenges, and some stars have taken the opportunity to use their platforms to speak out about the less-than-glamorous parts of motherhood that don't always get the attention they should.
It's definitely not easy becoming a mom — whether it's your first baby or whether you've done this all before. Between postpartum healing, the exhausting newborn weeks, and the battle against postpartum depression, it's a struggle — and we're doing it all on little sleep (and sometimes while wearing actual diapers).
From Katy Perry to Ashley Graham, here are 17 celebs' most relatable postpartum confessions. We hope these encourage even more moms out there to talk about the tough stuff that comes with bringing a baby home from the hospital.
Hunter McGrady
After model Hunter McGrady welcomed her first baby, Hudson, in 2021, she admitted that life postpartum just didn't look how she thought it would — including her Instagram feed.
When Hudson was 5 weeks old, she wrote: "We also have just been recycling the same onesies because it's easy. Some days I want to get all done up — it's fun! I feel beautiful when I do and there is nothing wrong with that, but 90% of the time it's this, and that's ok too. Just a reminder that it's ok if something doesn't happen the way we thought it would."
Katy Perry
Though Katy Perry hasn't shared many photos of her daughter, Daisy Dove, she has kept it real when it comes to her postpartum experience — pumping selfies and all. Not long after Daisy's birth, she shared this pic on her Instagram Story, showing off her postpartum underwear and pumping bra.
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson has never held back when it comes to opening up about what her pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood experiences have been like for her. And in a 2021 interview with Shape, she shared that her eczema flared up big time after her youngest child, Birdie, was born.
"I had such bad flare-ups that I wouldn't even show the pictures of me holding her to my friends," she confessed at the time.
Lea Michele
After Lea Michele's first child was born in August 2020, she took to her Instagram Story to open up about her postpartum hair loss — something that many moms deal with after birth — and even shared a photo of some of her hair that had fallen out, writing, "The postpartum hair loss is REAL."
Nikki Bella
In 2020, Nikki Bella became a mom for the first time to her son, Matteo, and after giving birth, she faced postpartum depression like so many other moms. And as she explained on her Total Bellas podcast, it even affected the way she felt about her fiancé, Artem Chigvintsev.
"I'm not gonna lie, I did have moments of being mean," she confessed. "I did have moments when I looked at him and I hated him. It's true. There were times I'd look at him and I'm like, 'I think I hate you.'"
Mandy Moore
After Mandy Moore welcomed her first baby with husband Taylor Goldsmith, she shared that she suffered from a scary health complication that continued to be difficult for her postpartum. She had low platelets during pregnancy, and even after giving birth, they weren't as high as her doctor wanted them to be, which could end up impacting her future pregnancies and births.
Blake Lively
As a mother of three, even Blake Lively has felt insecure about what her body looks like after having babies. In posts she shared on her Instagram Story in February 2021, she admitted that after giving birth to her third child, she didn't fit in sample sizes anymore, meaning that she had to put together her own outfits, which was a hit to her confidence.
"I wish I felt as confident then as I do now, a year later. That body gave me a baby," she wrote. "And was producing that baby's entire food supply. What a beautiful miracle. But instead of feeling proud, I felt insecure. Simply because I didn't fit into clothes. How silly is that in retrospect?"
Ashley Graham
We can always count on Ashley Graham to give us a dose of body positivity, and that's exactly what she did after giving birth to her first child, Isaac, in early 2020. She was proud to show off her stretch marks on Instagram, embracing and celebrating the body that gave her her son.
Amy Schumer
When Amy Schumer shared what her first post-baby birthday looked like after Gene was born, it didn't get much realer than this! Here she is in bed with her baby boy beside her — along with a plate of food balanced on top of them. The reality of life with a newborn!
Shawn Johnson
As a former Olympian, it definitely threw Shawn Johnson for a loop when she gave birth to her first child, Drew, and wasn't able to be active in the same way she once was. In a video on her YouTube channel, she admitted that she realized the idea of "getting her body back" wasn't quite what she thought it was, but in the end, she was proud of what her body had been able to accomplish.
Jade Roper
Former Bachelor star Jade Roper is a mom to three kids, and after a fan called her out on Instagram for not being as involved after her third child, Brooks, was born, Jade revealed that she'd actually been struggling with postpartum depression.
"Fact is, I was fighting a dark depression for the first six months after Brooks was born, and no one would have known it," she wrote, adding, "I'm fumbling through, learning as I go, and leaning in as I get to know my baby and the new versions of my children and husband as they evolve and adapt and grow as well."
Witney Carson
After having a baby, lifelong dancer and Dancing With the Stars pro Witney Carson admitted that being so focused on her weight for so long made accepting her postpartum body all the more difficult.
"I've struggled with this & that's why I was hesitant to post these photos," she wrote in an Instagram post. "I didn't feel I looked a certain way — 'good enough' — & that was a sad thought to me. I'm learning to celebrate my body the way it is now and celebrate the small successes to a HEALTHY body, spirit, and mind."
Audrey Roloff
After Audrey and her husband, Jeremy, welcomed their second baby, Bode, in early 2020, the former Little People, Big World star shared that she wished people were more honest about what the postpartum period entails.
"We are so excited to share birth stories and document our whole pregnancies but then postpartum hits … nothing," she continued. "I wish someone would have better prepared me the first time around or been more honest about all the after-birth pains. So here I am, showing up with my 1-week postpartum belly exposed and telling you my body hurts."
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway shared a pair of jeans she'd cut into shorts on Instagram, talking about weight fluctuations after having a baby.
She wrote: "There is no shame in gaining weight during pregnancy (or ever). There is no shame if it takes longer than you think it will to lose the weight (if you want to lose it at all). There is no shame in finally breaking down and making your own jean shorts because last summer's are just too dang short for this summer's thighs."
Chrissy Teigen
Though she didn't open up about it at first, model and internet personality Chrissy Teigen wrote an essay for Glamour in 2017 in which she revealed that she struggled with postpartum depression after giving birth to her first child, Luna.
"What basically everyone around me — but me — knew up until December was this: I have postpartum depression," she wrote. "How can I feel this way when everything is so great? I've had a hard time coming to terms with that, and I hesitated to even talk about this."
Ashley Tisdale
In 2021, actress Ashley Tisdale became a mom for the first time when her daughter, Jupiter, was born, and after sharing side-by-side photos of her stomach on her Instagram Story, she wrote about how thankful she was for all it had done for her.
"I don't think I've ever felt more exhausted,” she wrote, reports Us Weekly. "But it is SO worth it. I can't believe what my body was capable of until now. It's amazing and I'm so grateful it brought this beautiful gift into our life. So now I will be gentle with myself and heal and I have a pretty amazing partner taking care of both the baby and me."
Meghan Trainor
After Meghan Trainor's son was delivered via C-section, the singer had a difficult recovery — especially since her baby boy's birth also came with the stress of an unexpected NICU stay.
"The hardest part was when [I came] home, that's when [the] pain hit. I'd walk around and be fine but then I'd lay down to go to bed and the pain would hit," she told Shape. "I remembered the surgery and I would tell my husband while crying, 'I can still feel them doing the surgery.' Now the pain is connected to the memory so that was really hard to get over. [It took] like two weeks to let my brain forget about it."
