Danisha Lestaevel is a mom who is gaining praise for giving the internet a raw and real glimpse of what postpartum looks like for her.
After recently giving birth to her fourth child, Danisha decided to start documenting her postpartum body on TikTok.
Here she is just three days after giving birth:
And over 15 million people have tuned in to this TikTok alone, where Danisha shows what her body looks like two weeks postpartum:
There are hundreds of thousands of fellow moms who are so appreciative of Danisha's real-life videos...
Because we see tons of pregnant bellies BEFORE birth, but it's not often that moms share their bellies AFTER birth:
BuzzFeed spoke to Danisha, who said she first decided to show her postpartum body on social media after struggling to love her body the way she did before she had kids. "I fell into postpartum depression after giving birth, feeling alone. I hadn’t seen anyone with a similar body and didn’t think it was normal to have as much loose skin and stretch marks as I did," she said.
"It was almost as if my body was foreign to me. It wasn’t mine. I realized that I wasn’t prepared for the bodily changes that occurred after giving birth," Danisha said.
That is when she started realizing that there simply isn’t enough talk about postpartum bodies.
"Initially, it was extremely hard for me to show the world my postpartum body due to the fear of what others might think..."
"...But, as I posted, I started receiving positive feedback that made me feel so honored to be a voice for women and showcase what postpartum can look like and that it’s completely normal," she said.
"I want people who don’t have children to know that not all bodies are the same and that snapback culture* is extremely toxic, as it puts unrealistic beauty standards and expectations on a high pedestal."
Danisha believes that — after experiencing pregnancy and postpartum four times herself — there are so many people who are not mentally or physically prepared for all the changes your body goes through. "It takes a major toll on your body and more discussion needs to be in place that speaks up on these natural changes. Loose skin, stretch marks, sagging breasts, and more," she said.
