Credit: @belle_lucia/ Instagram

6 Months Pregnant Model Hits Back At Haters For Trying To Skinny Shame Her

by Debayan Paul | June 10, 2019

Just like fat shaming, skinny shaming occurs too. A popular model from Australia learned this recently while sharing pictures of herself on social media.

Belle Lucia, an Australian model living in London, shared photos of herself on Instagram, posing at different locations while six-months pregnant. However, some of her 1.2 million followers couldn’t get over the fact that her belly didn’t look as ‘pregnant’ as they would like. Belle hit back at haters with an incredible message. Read on to know more.

6 Months Pregnant Model Hits Back At Haters For Trying To Skinny Shame Her

For a lot of women, it is normal to have a recognizable bump by the time she reaches 23 weeks of pregnancy. However, this isn’t the same for all. As in this case, one could hardly believe Belle Lucia is six-months pregnant; having around three more months to give birth to her baby. The model shared photos, and a lot of people began doubting her pregnancy.

Posting her image, she captioned- “Since becoming pregnant all I’ve wanted to do is swim. Just slightly difficult living in London as I can’t quickly jump into the ocean like I did back in Australia.”

People began questioning her pregnancy due to the flat appearance of her belly, and seemingly non-existant baby bump despite her being six-months pregnant.

One user wrote- “I’m so confused are u actually pregnant?” Lucia responded to the user by writing- “6-months pregnant…baby is 100% healthy and so am I.”

According to the news outlet The Sun, Belle’s pregnancy was questioned before as well. Apart from thousands of congratulatory messages, there were haters on social media who didn’t miss the chance to skinny shame her. They hurled ignorant remarks, branding her pregnancy ‘tiny,’ among other inappropriate comments. Yet the model responded gracefully, “Body shaming is not okay no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’ someone is,” she wrote, adding “Just because I’m not showing as much as you like doesn’t mean my pregnancy is ‘unhealthy’ or that I’m promoting a ‘skinny’ pregnancy.” At a point, the hateful comments escalated to such heights it forced Lucia to reportedly delete her ultrasound posts because of these distasteful comments, The Sun reports.

Everyone is Different

It may seem obvious to expect a pregnancy bump; however, each body is different. According to Jessica Kiley, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, speaking to Health.com said-

“Women come in all different shapes and sizes, and carry differently depending on a number of factors.”
Jessica Kiley, MD; via health.com

Clearly, baby bumps during pregnancy may vary from woman to woman. Different factors reportedly come into play like a woman’s level of fitness and the general strength of the abdomen may affect the shape. To say the least, matters of the body are much more intricate and one cannot simply assume everyone is the same. Belle Lucia rightly said- “women show very differently but are all carrying a little life,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. We must not judge based on body shape regardless of the person’s size.

What do you think about the story? Let me know your thoughts in comments.