Women entering motherhood often experience permanent changes to their bodies after giving birth. And while those changes may be an adjustment for some, one Australian mom says she has accepted her postpartum figure despite being body-shamed on social media.
Mia Somerville, 24, of Canberra, shared a video to her TikTok account last week, revealing how her body has changed after giving birth to her daughter Pippa. Since then, the video has gone viral and amassed more than 2.3 million views on the video-sharing platform.
At the beginning of the clip, Mia shared a photo of herself when she was four weeks pregnant. She said she has always been body positive and confident in herself and assumed she would return to normal size after having a baby.
Two medical experts told Mia that her belly wouldn't 'bounce back' after childbirth.
A woman's abdomen dramatically changes after childbirth, and it takes time for the body to fully recover after pregnancy. Most women have a postpartum belly that won't return to its normal shape and size post-pregnancy, according to What to Expect. Some moms even experience difficulty with their abdominal muscles and are diagnosed with diastasis recti, a disorder that causes the abdominal muscles to separate during pregnancy.
"Obviously, I have this beautiful little girl now, and I wouldn't change anything for the world," the new mom said as she pointed to a photo of herself in the 55-second clip. "But I've had two physios tell me that if I want my belly button to look like this again, I need plastic surgery."
Mia explained that after giving birth to her daughter in September 2022, it took some time to adjust and get used to her body's changes, according to the New York Post.
Mia revealed her postpartum figure to viewers in the viral video.
"For the record, I am not saying my new body is bad; it's just different," Mia said, adding she experienced a lot of stretching after giving birth at 40 weeks and six days. When she lifted her shirt, Mia showed what a postpartum belly looks like after having a baby.
The TikToker currently has a sizeable pouch with some loose skin from the pregnancy. She also stated that she has a three-finger ab separation, mild prolapse, which occurs when the tissues and muscles surrounding the pelvic region weaken during pregnancy and after giving birth, and a belly button that "probably wouldn't look the same again."
"This is just what I am getting used to and what things look like after you give birth," Mia said.
Mia said she wanted to show what a 'real body' looks like after having a child.
Mia discussed the viral TikTok video while shedding light on women's mental and physical changes during pregnancy. “I’ve always been very body positive and confident in myself. But seeing how different I looked after having Pippa did take a little bit of getting used to," she said in an interview with news.com.au, NY Post reported.
“I am not sure exactly what my intention was making the video, but I thought, well I am not seeing this kind of body anywhere," she continued.
“We’re not exposed to real bodies in the mainstream media. All the celebrities and influencers you see appear to just ‘bounce back’ days after giving birth," Mia said.
“I’m still young and was always quite slim. So I just assumed that I’d just ‘bounce back’ too, and that I’d look exactly the same."
Mia received mixed reactions from viewers after revealing her body.
Mia shared a glimpse of what many women go through after bringing life into the world. And while some commenters body-shamed the young mom for the visible changes to her body, others praised her for being brave enough to share it.
"Omg it’s so relieving seeing someone else with the same stomach as mine before pregnancy and then the same after!" one user wrote.
Another TikToker wrote: "This makes me feel normal about my own body. Thank you ."
One user, who is also a mother, noted real bodies need to be normalized after her ex-boyfriend threatened to leave her if she didn't make changes to her body.
"My ex told me multiple times if my body didn't 'bounce back' 100% he'd leave (he's the one wanting kids) we need to normalize post baby bodies!" the person wrote.
"What!!!!" someone exclaimed. "Finally a person with a similar postpartum body like mine! My belly button is the same and I have a 2.5 finger gap in my DR."
In a follow-up post, Mia responded to a commenter who said her body looked 'horrible.'
"Honestly, no it doesn't. I'm three-and-a-half months postpartum and I feel amazing," Mia said after a TikTok user said her body looked "horrible" after having a child.
"So what if there is a little bit of loose skin, in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter," she added.
In the 11-second clip, Mia also compared her body to a photo of herself when she was far along in her pregnancy. "This is the last photo I took of my belly. Look how freakin' big I got. I look amazing," she said.
