Reality TV personality Millie Mackintosh says she cannot stand the pressure women are put under to “bounce back” from pregnancy.
The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, and husband Hugo Taylor became parents to daughter Sienna in May last year.
Speaking on the Women’s Health UK Going For Goal podcast, Mackintosh addressed the challenges women face during and after giving birth.
She said: “Women often feel like they can’t talk about their postpartum bodies, and there’s so much attention on women’s bodies when they’re pregnant, and then there seems to be so much pressure to bounce back after you’ve had the baby.
“That’s just something I really can’t stand because, like, give us a break. You’ve literally just grown a human and yes, your body changes a lot when it’s creating a life, carrying it for nine months.”
Mackintosh said she was still adjusting to how her body had changed during her own pregnancy.
“I did find it a bit uncomfortable at first adjusting, and finding things I felt comfortable wearing, adjusting to being a different size that I had been before,” she said.
“I have friends who have literally been the same size again after two weeks. I’m so happy for them, but they are genetic freaks, and for most women you do still look pregnant for a bit, for a while even.”
However, she said she felt stronger and was enjoying her more curvy physique.
She said: “I feel really strong, I feel fit, I feel like I love my body and I’ve got curves, and I’m a slightly different shape to what I was before.
“Some of my jeans fit and the slightly more fitted ones definitely don’t, and that’s fine. Things don’t quite sit as they did before, but I feel really body confident… I feel so proud of what my body did.”
Mackintosh and Taylor tied the knot in 2018. The reality star was previously married to musician Professor Green.
Listen to the full interview on the Women’s Health Going For Goal podcast, available now.