The human body is amazing. It carries us through each day, lets us experience the world and even creates and nurtures brand new life. But just because your body is an incredible machine doesn’t mean you always feel great about it. It’s normal to feel awkward and insecure as your body grows and changes, especially once you’ve been pregnant.
Stretch marks and scars are just a few of the many ways our bodies can change after growing a baby, and one mom on TikTok just issued an important reminder to celebrate these body changes in all their beautiful glory.
A tribute to stretch marks
Michelle Chubb, a Cree mom who goes by the username indigenous_baddie, posted a loving tribute to her stretch marks that’s giving people all the feels.
“My body is sacred,” she writes in the caption on her video. In it, she dons a crop top and rubs her hand lovingly over the stretch marks on her abdomen. In the background, Emmy Meli sings “I Am Woman.”
The video is short and sweet, but the clip is going viral as people respond to the power of watching someone deeply appreciate, love and take pride in their body.
Chubb empowers others to love their bodies
In the comments, people are thanking Chubb for the reminder to show themselves some love and discussing how they see their own postpartum bodies.
“I’ve been insecure about my stretch marks for so long,” one person writes. “You make me not feel like I’m alone with it.”
Another person adds, “Our stretch marks tell a story, and I’ve learned to appreciate the ones I have, especially the ones I earned from my two girls.”
Some are sharing beautiful ways they think about their stretch marks and stories that were passed down to them by their mothers and grandmothers.
“My grandmother always said they [stretch marks] are the handprints of our ancestors,” one person writes.
Another commenter writes, “I heard someone say that stretch marks were their baby’s first drawing and I’ve thought about that ever since.”
The myth of the “post-baby body”
From the time a person gets pregnant, they’re often bombarded with information about how to prevent body changes. Companies swear certain creams and lotions can prevent stretch marks. Diet brands promise their foods and programs can help new moms lose their baby weight. Tabloids print images of beautiful, thin celebrities “bouncing back” after pregnancy.
The idea that bodies should magically return to normal after pregnancy is a myth. It’s estimated that 50-90% of women get stretch marks during pregnancy, and topical treatments don’t prevent them. Pregnancy can also dramatically alter your hormone levels, as well as the overall shape of your body. Let’s not forget that internal organs actually move around to make space for a growing fetus!
In a world that frequently asks women to hide the evidence of ever having carried a baby, Chubb’s video is a vital reminder that it’s normal to have marks and scars, it’s normal for your skin to tell the story of the life you’ve lived and the children you’ve carried. In fact, it’s more than normal. Your body, with all of its stretch marks and so-called imperfections, is worthy of a celebration.
