Is Instagram really 'dangerous' for pregnant women?
Some experts think it could be...
Experts are coming down pretty hard on social media sites like Instagram at the moment for spreading myths about what pregnant and post-pregnant bodies should look like.
In recent article in the Guardian, a GP and a former Olympian, who's written a book on exercise in pregnancy, both warn that pics put on Instagram by celebs showing them working out while pregnant or super-slimmed-down just weeks after birth give the rest of us unrealistic expectations about what's a safe and sensible amount of exercise in pregnancy – and what an average post-natal body looks like.
“In an ideal world," says GP Philippa Kaye, who'll be speaking more on this topic at this weekend's Baby Show at London's Olympia, "we wouldn’t be surrounded by Photoshopped images of celebrities 4 weeks after they’ve had a baby, looking like they were never pregnant. That Instagram-filtered world isn’t reality.”
"I have seen women take it too far at the gym both before and after pregnancy, and it’s caused problems.
"If you never did any exercise before you got pregnant, you don’t want to start with high-impact training or a military boot camp in the park once you are pregnant. It’s too much."
And former Olympian Greg Whyte, author of pregnancy-exercise book Bump It Up agrees: "For a woman who was inactive pre-pregnancy to take on some of these things [they see on social media]... it can be dangerous.”
Pretty tough talking, eh?
We do get what Greg and the doc are saying: here at MFM HQ, we see Instagram images every day of pregnant celebs working out and proud new mums sharing their super-toned bodies mere nanoseconds after giving birth (usually Australian Gold Coast fitness gurus, by the way).
But we also see plenty of mums (and we reckon this trend is on the up) sharing their mum-tums, stretch marks and C-section scars on social media, too.
Remember when supermodel Robyn Lawley shared this honest photo of her stretch marks on Instagram?
And just last week Giovanna Fletcher revealed she has not-too-hot new hairs thanks to post-baby hormones.
So, we think we all know when we're looking at an Insta account that shows a woman who's lifted weights or done yoga for years and is still doing so while she's pregnant or a woman who's worked super hard (and, no doubt, had lots of help) to get her body back (fair dos to her).
But that doesn't really mean we all think we, like them, should be spending hours down the gym when we're pregnant or have just had a baby – does it?
What do you think?
Do you think Instagram puts pressure on women to look a certain way after having a baby? Don't Instagram stars have a right to share whatever pics they want?
And would one of these photos be enough to make you feel negative about your own post-baby bod? Tell us in the comments below or over on Facebook.
Photos: Hilaria Baldwin on Instagram / Robyn Lawley on Instagram
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Authors
Tara is mum to 1 daughter, Bodhi Rae, and has worked as Content Editor and Social Media Producer at MadeForMums since 2015
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