Mom's Candid Postpartum Photo
This Mum's Candid Postpartum Photo Shows It's OK to Be Vulnerable Once in a While
Sara, a blogger from Norway, recently spoke up about how what you see of someone on Instagram isn't necessarily an accurate depiction of that person's reality. To prove her point, the mum of two shared a candid photo of her postpartum body from just two days after her daughter was born, mentioning that the photo she originally chose to put on the social media platform from the same time period looked a heck of a lot different.
"The first picture I posted of myself after birth on Instagram I was two days postpartum wearing a beautiful summer dress with makeup, false lashes, and curls in my hair," wrote the um. "But the first picture I took of myself after birth the same day was this. With breast pads, in a nappy standing with post-birth contractions at the hospital."
Despite the fact that her real postpartum experience was vastly differently from the one she shared on social media, Sara wasn't comfortable being that vulnerable just yet. "At that time I could never ever post this. And a lot of people will maybe think this is too private to share. But I wanted to use my voice to share the side I left out before. This picture really shows my reality and how I looked after going through labour."
Now, Sara is reassuring other mothers that it's OK to be real and raw on platforms like Instagram. "Social media is a place where you often share your best sides, memories, and fake your own reality," she said. "When I look back in my pictures, this is the one that makes me smile. Because this is a memory, a reality and a pretty great one. Don't compare yourself and think you are any less beautiful, because you don't stand two days postpartum smiling in a cute dress in full makeup. We all have been there, in our nappies, missing a shower."
