A WOMAN has urged people not to "give out advice" to new mums, after she was body-shamed six weeks after giving birth.
She explained that she was feeling self-conscious about her figure as, being her third baby, it "didn't exactly bounce back" like it had with her first two.
So she decided to try and perk herself up by going to her local TK Maxx in search of some new jeans to fit her post-partum body.
"So I grab a bunch of jeans, I take them to the dressing room, I've sized up a lot," she said in a video on her TikTok page.
"The last pair I put on, I was sort of on the fence – I'm taking a look at myself in the jeans, a woman comes in and she said, 'They look really good, you should get them!'
"And just making conversation, I was like, 'Oh really? I wasn't sure if they were flattering on my stomach area.'"
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Admitting it was "her mistake", she then told the woman that she'd just had her third baby and was feeling " a little self-conscious about" how her stomach looks.
"I don't know why I said that," she sighed.
"I've been a mum for four and a half years, and people love giving unsolicited advice to parents."
At that point, the woman asked if she was breastfeeding, to which she replied that she was.
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"And then the lady says to me, 'Well good, because that baby is going to suck all of the fat off of you if you breastfeed, just give it time.
"'All of the belly fat you've got, baby's going to suck it off, that's why you need to breastfeed. And you should breastfeed for a while'.
"She also gives me a lecture on why it's so important that I listen to my doctor when he tells me to exercise and work out.
"Because that way I won't have gained all the belly fat that I have."
She went on to add that "as a mum of three and a labour and delivery nurse" she sees the "mental fragility" that comes with having a new baby.
"I'm extremely fortunate, I've had really good mental health after having my babies but comments like that, any one of those comments, could break a person in unimaginable ways," she said.
"So if you see somebody that's pregnant or has a new baby out in public, do not give them any advice.
"Tell them their baby is cute and that they look great. Or maybe tell them they're doing a great job."
"Lesson learned," she captioned her video.
People were quick to comment on the clip, with many recalling similar situations they'd been in.
"I had someone stop in my office on my last day before maternity leave Monday and say 'OMG could you get any bigger?!'" one wrote.
"I could've cried. No filter."
"It’s wild to me, maybe because I’m an introvert, but I could not fathom speaking to anyone let alone a stranger that way," another added.
"That’s why I don’t talk to ppl," a third insisted.
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As someone else wrote: "I was a week post c-section with my son when my father-in-law tried telling my hubby to encourage me to lose weight.
"A week post c-section with my daughter."
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