Pregnant mums just love to catalogue their pregnancy journey, marking each phase of their growing baby bump with social media posts.
Most of the time, they receive positive comments, congratulating them on the impending arrival of their little one. But some come under fire for having bumps that do not look like usual pregnancy tummies.
For 29-year-old Fashion Designer, Yiota Kouzouka, her unusually tiny bump earned the ire of netizens, who assumed she was not eating enough to make sure her baby is healthy.
She’s currently six months along, with a barely-there bump. Having enough of the body shaming, she hit back in the caption of another post, sharing the real reason why her bump appears smaller than average.
“I receive a lot of DMs and comments regarding the size of my bump, which is why I want to explain a few things about my body. Not that I’m upset/affected by these comments at all, but more for the reason of educating in the hope that some people are less judgemental on others and even themselves,” she wrote.
“For the first 4 months of my pregnancy, my uterus was retroverted/tilted which means that it was growing backwards into my body rather than outwards.”
What happens when your uterus tilts during pregnancy?
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Yiota Kouzoukas (@yiota) on
She continued to explain her condition, which meant she had a tilted or retroverted uterus, as well as scarring caused by endometriosis.
“My uterus didn’t ‘flip forward’ until well into being 4 months pregnant because of the backwards tilted position paired with decade old endometriosis scarring that I have on my uterosacral ligaments,” she explained.
She emphasized that the ligaments weakened due to pressure during from the growing uterus, which is why her bump appears smaller than usual even if she was already at the 5th month of her pregnancy.
“Basically, these ligaments are acting like anchors keeping my uterus inside rather than outside.”
According to Healthline, having a tilted uterus does not usually have adverse effects on pregnancy. This condition usually resolves itself towards the end of the first trimester.
“I’m perfectly healthy…”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Yiota Kouzoukas (@yiota) on
“Now at 6 months pregnant, I’m growing forwards just like everyone else while the scarring on my ligaments slowly breaks down,” she happily reports on Instagram.
“My torso is also short and my stomach is naturally toned which is keeping my belly super tight. So I’ve had to personally stop all ab exercises to avoid any issues with possible (abdominal) separation. This is for me personally, as instructed by my doctor and is in no way a blanket rule for anyone else.”
Reassuring her 210,000 Instagram followers, she wrote: “I’m perfectly healthy, the baby is perfectly healthy and that’s all that matters. Our bodies and bumps are all different and our shapes and sizes are all different too.”
It’s good to know that Yiota is having a healthy and happy pregnancy despite all the negativity. Let this be a lesson to those who are quick to shame mums-to-be whose bodies are different.
Each pregnancy is beautiful and unique. Let’s all be supportive and compassionate, knowing that social media does not always tell the whole story.
(Updated January 2018) She has since given birth to a lovely boy, named Connor, on 17 July 2018.
*This article first appeared on theAsianparent Philippines
Source: Mom.me, Usmagazine.com, Cosmopolitan.com, Womenshealth.co.uk, Healthline.com
ALSO READ:
Her Baby Bump Photo Went Viral, But For All The Wrong Reasons
