As new mums, we can become obsessed with getting back to our ‘pre-baby’ weight. If celebrity mums like Kimmy K, Chrissy Teigen, Mila Kunis or even the Duchess of Cambridge can do it, why can’t we?

The reality is, our bodies go through a lot to grow a human, birth that human and nurture that human.

Some of the expectations can be unrealistic.

The Huffington Post and Dr Penny Sheehan, Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Women’s at Sandringham, have put together some realities of what to expect.

Dr Sheehan explains, “I see so many examples of celebrities who do extraordinary things in a bid to get their bodies back — insane training, cosmetic surgery — and it’s just not necessarily the right thing to do.”

Celebrities aren’t the only ones doing extreme regimes to get back to their pre-baby body. There are many women who expect once they birth their baby, they will be able to fit back into their pre-maternity skinny jeans.

“There are definitely women who, after the baby, expect to just get their old body back. In many respects, that just doesn’t work,” Sheehan said.

“I know of one GP who obviously deals with pregnant women all the time, and even she brought all her pre-pregnancy clothes into hospital with her to wear after she had the baby. She was horribly depressed when she realised she had to wear her maternity clothes home with her again. It was a very unpleasant thing for her, and she had totally unrealistic expectations of what would happen.”

So what should we expect from our body after we’ve had a baby? Here are 10 realities women should expect from their post-baby body.

1. Fluid retention – “During pregnancy you have gained an extra half of your normal blood volume,” Sheehan explained, “which means you have a whole lot of extra fluid around that you need to support the extra circulation. Although you will have some blood loss from the delivery and some with the placenta, there is still a whole heap extra and basically, it just takes time for it to do down. You might have nasty swelling from the fluid a few days after the birth, which might freak you out, but it’s normal.”

2. Big tummy – “Your tummy also takes time to go down. In that six week post-partum period, it takes at least that for the stretched tissue to start to regain its elasticity and come back to its normal size. It also takes at least six weeks for your uterus to shrink back down. It will be half the size it was after delivering the baby, but it still has extra shrinking to do, and that takes a few weeks. You can’t expect your tummy to just go back to being flat.”

3. Stretch marks. You can put as much coconut oil and bio oil on your body to prevent those dreaded stretch marks, but if your skin is going to scar, there isn’t a lot you can do about it. Most stretch marks occur towards the end of pregnancy and after birth when your milk comes in, and your breasts engorge.

4. Varicose veins. Not everyone gets them, but most do and they don’t become visible until after the baby bump disappears.

5. Bigger breasts. “Your breasts are going to be bigger while you are breastfeeding. On the third day, when the milk comes in, they will be very big, especially for someone having their first baby,” Sheehan said. “This is something that will go away a bit with time, but they will always be a bit different than they were. Likely, the changes will be permanent. Many women go up a cup size with pregnancy and that won’t go away. And even if that doesn’t happen, they might be a different shape.” Nipples can often change colour and be darker during pregnancy.

6. Vagina will be stretched and may become dry. “The vagina itself has most likely stretched. Even if you have had a Cesarean, there are still hormone changes — namely, relaxants — that make the vagina more capacious in preparation for birth,” Sheehan said. After you give birth, estrogen levels are quite low and this contributes to the vaginal dryness. If your vagina feels dry and irritated, you can blame your hormones.

7. Skeleton Expands. Your skeletal system expands during pregnancy. “Your ribs actually get pushed out by having a baby,” Sheehan said. “It’s one of the ways archaeologists can tell if an ancient skeleton is male or female, and whether or not the female is likely to have had a baby.”

8. Feet widen and lengthen. As part of the skeleton expanding, pregnant women will find their feet widen and lengthen and may have to go one or two shoe sizes up.

9. Curvier body. It’s recommended pregnant women only put on between 10-12 kgs during pregnancy. “Two-thirds of women gain more weight than is recommended, which is unfortunate, because that weight just has to come off again,” she said. “The good thing about breastfeeding is it increases your oxytocin, which is what helps your uterus contract down,” Sheehan continued. “Of course, your uterus will do that regardless but it is true it might do it a bit quicker [if you breastfeed].

10. Skin and hair will be glowing during pregnancy, but after pregnancy, due to hormones some women will experience hair loss and skin break outs.
Dr Sheehan told The Huffington Post Australia, “Womens’ bodies go through such drastic changes in a short period of time in pregnancy, everything from enlarged breasts, varicose veins, stretch marks, getting a big tummy obviously, changes to the vagina… there is a huge range of changes and I think, in general, women cope with it really well.”

We just need to stop comparing our body to someone else.

Which of these body changes did you experience post-baby?