WATCH: Venditti’s blog on post-baby body issues has touched a nerve and gone viral. Allison Vuchnich has the story.
Joanna Venditti gave birth to four kids in five years. She has the stretch marks, the extra curves and a new shape to prove it.
And in an inspirational blog post to fellow moms, Venditti speaks candidly about how she went from mourning her pre-pregnancy body to celebrating her transformation into motherhood.
Instead of being embarrassed about their post-pregnancy scars and feeling like pregnancy “ruined” their bodies, new moms should love and embrace how strong their bodies are and what they’ve been through, she says.
READ MORE: How motherhood changes a woman’s brain
“I am the thirty-something mom now with four kids and I am really proud of that. I am so much more confident with my body than I ever have been before. Anytime I start doubting my new curves or war wounds I look around the room and ask myself, how many other people in this room grew two people inside their body at once,” the mom wrote on her blog, Nesting Story.
“Isn’t it incredible what the human body can do? Or better yet, what a woman’s body can do? I have had four children, including twins, in the span of five years. Yes, my body did that!”
Listen: Joanna Venditti talks about what inspired her to write her blog post that’s now gone viral.
Venditti’s message is now going viral – Brazil, Estonia, France, the United States and the United Kingdom are just a handful of the countries the Canadian mom’s blog has made waves in. It’s been translated into several languages.
On a single afternoon, she received more than 500,000 new visitors to her blog.
Listen: Joanna Venditti talks about how her body has changed after giving birth to twins.
Venditti has been approached by People, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Life & Style and other media outlets around the world. She told Global News, while in her sweatpants and doing laundry, that she’s thrilled her motivation is encouraging her peers.
READ MORE: ‘What’s your excuse?’ Mom accused of fat-shaming after posting baby-weight loss photo
“It’s really resonating with people – I’m glad it’s making other moms feel more normal about what they’ve gone through or what their feelings are about what their bodies look like,” Venditti said.
“They’re thanking me for my honesty and just putting those photos out there helps other moms see the reality after having a baby. It’s changing the way people think so it isn’t shameful and negative, it’s a celebration of what your body has gone through,” she explained.
In her blog, Venditti documents her final pregnancy with twins – post-C-section, she says she was “left with mush, bruising, swollen ankles and healing.”
“I had this sadness for my body. I felt so badly for it with the state it was in…” she wrote.
Venditti said it’s “incredible” that the discussion on shedding stigma around post-pregnant bodies is only surfacing now, but she’s glad her blog was a catalyst.
Instead of focusing on a number on the scale and punishing your body to get back to its pre-baby weight, Venditti urges moms to be kind to their bodies.
READ MORE: Do babies inherit junk food addictions from their moms?
For her, this meant eating healthy and indulging on occasion without beating herself up about it. She’s working on her fitness but her goals are based on being strong, more flexible and confident in her own skin.
Read her full blog post here.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Follow @Carmen_Chai
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