Ashley Graham Tells Moms It’s Okay if You Don’t Ever ‘Bounce Back’

America’s beloved supermodel Ashley Graham is back once again to quash unrealistic body expectations. This time she’s tackling the pressure to “bounce back” after baby.

The new mom recently posted a video celebrating her postpartum body with the caption, “Posting this video for all the mamas who haven’t and may never ‘bounce back’ and for anyone who needs to be reminded that your body is beautiful in its realest form," adding, “This is my strong five-month-postpartum-been-pregnant-for-two-years body as it is. In hopes to further normalize all bodies in every and any stage of life.”

The body positivity advocate recently shared a personal essay about her pregnancy and motherhood journey published by Glamour on May 20. In the essay, the 34-year-old shares her traumatic birth experience, her struggles with a miscarriage in early 2021 and talks candidly about her postpartum body.

Graham begins the essay by recounting the birth of twins Roman and Malachi. The babies came swiftly, with Graham in labor for just over three and a half hours. But post-birth, Graham had lost liters of blood, and her midwives had struggled to stop the bleeding. Once she came to, Graham couldn’t walk and spent four days in bed and two months recovering before she left the house.

“Like so many women, what I went through with childbirth has reshaped my relationship with my body—and I say this knowing that I am the person who has been shouting from the rooftops to you all, ‘Love the skin you’re in.’ Yet for me, the births of all my three children threw a lot of that out of the window,” Graham said.

The supermodel continued to share how her journey to loving her body post-pregnancy hasn’t been linear, but rather ebbs and flows. Her latest campaign with lingerie brand Knix, called Reveal Yourself, centers on the narrative of how important it is to speak openly about your experience so you can move forward. “Because even as a body advocate, I’ve learned it’s okay if the journey to love the skin you’re in is more complex than you could ever have imagined,” said Graham.

As amazing as your postpartum body is, loving it isn’t always easy. For more inspiration on how to love your post-baby body, check out these tips.