A young mom who showed off her post-partum figure has been praised for calling out cruel body shamers.
Earlier this week, Mia Somerville shared an honest take a look at the raw realities of becoming a mother in a powerful viral video that has now had over two million views.
Within the clip, the 24-year-old from Canberra explained that she has all the time been very body positive and assured in herself, and prior to giving birth she assumed that her stomach would “bounce back”.
But after having her baby girl Pippa back in September 2022, Mia said it has taken her a while to regain her confidence and get used to the changes her body has undergone.
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Lifting up her shirt, the mom showed what her stomach looked like after giving birth at 40 weeks and 6 days.
As a result of the natural stretching that happens while pregnant, Mia currently has some loose skin on her tummy and her belly button looks different than it did before.
“I really like my baby girl greater than anything, and wouldn’t change being a mom for the world,” she told news.com.au.
“Nevertheless, that doesn’t negate the incontrovertible fact that becoming a mother means you’re going through some huge life changes, each mentally and physically.
“I’ve all the time been very body positive and assured in myself. But seeing how different I sorted having Pippa did take just a little little bit of getting used to.
“I’m unsure exactly what my intention was making the video, but I believed, well I’m not seeing this sort of body anywhere.
“We’re not exposed to real bodies within the mainstream media. All of the celebrities and influencers you see appear to only ‘bounce back’ days after giving birth.
“Tammy Hembrow was in her gym gear literally the following day after having her third child.
“I’m still young and was all the time quite slim. So I just assumed that I’d just ‘bounce back’ too, and that I’d look the exact same.
“So having loose skin and stretch marks on my stomach definitely was not what I expected.”
After posting the clip to her TikTok account, Mia was flooded with 1000’s of comments from people all around the world.
While most were supportive, some cruelly shamed the mo
m’s body, saying they might “hate” to seem like her.
A lot of people also stated that after seeing Mia’s video, they decided they might “never have kids”.
“TikTok is the app where I believe people be at liberty to be as rude as they need,” she said back to the haters.
“It doesn’t trouble me, however it is gloomy because I do know other mo
ms are in the same situation and can read those nasty messages and feel bad about themselves.
“So many individuals said they’d hate to seem like me, or that it was ‘horrible’ or ‘gross’.
“The saddest ones were people who said things like, ‘Now I’m never having kids.’
“To think we live in a world where people would fairly forgo the incredible journey of becoming a parent, simply because of how they could look, is absolutely depressing.
“It’s also just plain insulting. It is essentially saying that a lady’s only purpose in life is to look attractive and ideal.”
In an epic response video, the mom said the cruel comments weren’t OK.
“I just replied and said, ‘Actually I don’t look horrible,’” she said.
“Other than just a little little bit of loose skin and stretch marks, I believe personally I look great.
“I’m three-and-a-half months post-partum, and I feel amazing.
“People could be so horrible online, but I don’t let it trouble me.”
Despite this, Mia was overwhelmed by the quantity of affection and support she received.
Many moms agreed that they felt isolated and shocked after giving birth when seeing their recent bodies, and thought they were “not normal”.
“It meant every thing to me when others said my video helped them feel seen and validated,” Mia said.
“We’re all on this together. At the top of the day, you get a phenomenal child out of it.
“If persons are going to say negative things about your body, then they haven’t undergone what we’ve undergone.
“It’s incredibly empowering to grow a toddler for nine months and undergo childbirth.
“We’d like to concentrate on what our bodies have done for us, and what they may do, as a substitute of what it looks wish to everyone else.”
