Postpartum Body Image Isn’t About Vanity

It’s About Coming Home…

Postpartum body image struggles are rarely about vanity.

They’re about identity shifts.

They’re about loss and comparison.

They’re about exhaustion — physical, emotional, and mental.

They’re about living in a body that has been through something enormous and life-altering.

Yet so many postpartum parents quietly tell themselves they shouldn’t feel this way.

I should be grateful.

I shouldn’t care this much.

Other people have it worse.

These thoughts often come from a place of trying to be “good,” appreciative, and resilient. But they can also create silence — pushing real feelings down instead of allowing them to be seen and cared for.

Disconnection Is a Signal, Not a Failure

Feeling disconnected from your body doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful.

It doesn’t mean you’re failing at motherhood.

It doesn’t mean you’re shallow or selfish.

More often, it means something important inside you is asking for care.

After pregnancy and birth, your body isn’t just different — you are different. Your sense of self, your autonomy, your relationship with rest, food, movement, and visibility may all feel altered. Wanting to feel at home in your body again is a deeply human desire, not a flaw.

Gratitude and Grief Can Coexist

One of the most painful myths postpartum parents carry is the belief that gratitude and grief cannot exist at the same time.

But they can.

You can love your baby deeply and still grieve the body you once knew.

You can feel thankful and still feel uncomfortable.

You can appreciate what your body has done while struggling to recognize it as your own.

Healing begins when we stop forcing ourselves into emotional binaries and allow the full truth of our experience to exist.

Moving Forward Without “Fixing” Yourself

If 2025 was about surviving — about getting through the sleepless nights, the identity shifts, the constant giving — maybe 2026 can be about something softer.

Coming back home to yourself.

Not by fixing your body.

Not by shrinking it.

Not by demanding confidence on a timeline.

But by slowly rebuilding trust.

By offering compassion where there’s been criticism.

By creating safety inside your body again.

This kind of healing doesn’t happen overnight. And it isn’t linear.

You Don’t Have to Rush — or Do This Alone

There is no deadline for feeling at peace in your body.

You don’t need to rush yourself into acceptance.

You don’t need to perform healing for anyone else.

And you don’t need to navigate this alone.

Postpartum body image struggles deserve care, patience, and support — just like every other part of the postpartum experience.

If this resonates, let it be a reminder: nothing is wrong with you. Something meaningful is asking to be tended to. And that is a worthy place to begin.

If you’re reading this and recognizing yourself in these words, you don’t have to navigate this alone. Working with a therapist who understands postpartum body image, food struggles, and identity shifts can offer a steady place to untangle what you’ve been carrying and begin rebuilding trust with your body at your own pace. Support isn’t about fixing you — it’s about walking alongside you as you come back home to yourself. If and when you’re ready, I’d be honored to support you in that process. You can reach out to me here.