Everyone Deserves to Feel Beautiful
Too often all we see on traditional and social media is model sized women or plus sized women who have the standard hourglass shape. We don’t spend enough time celebrating the average woman and what her body can do. The whole point of maternity photography is to celebrate what your body has done for you and your soon to be baby. Just because everyone doesn’t fit into the cookie cutter ideal of beauty, doesn’t mean their body doesn’t deserve to be recognized and celebrated just the same. If there’s one thing I harp on about during maternity sessions, it’s that everyone is beautiful, and everyone deserves to feel as beautiful as they are. Especially when pregnant! A pregnant person is glowing and gorgeous, and creating life is a goddamn miracle! You’re a goddess, act like it.
You’re More Than Your Label
Anyone who has been pregnant while weighing more than 150 lbs has been labeled with the oh-so-flattering term “obese pregnancy.” It’s great. It makes you feel great. I happen to be in the minority of women who lose weight during pregnancy. I left the hospital 32 lbs lighter than I was before I got pregnant. I was also in the minority of people who gain weight breastfeeding. I’m backwards. I was lucky enough to find a practice of women who were nothing but supportive and my weight was never mentioned during my checkups, but every after-visit summary had it right there: obese pregnancy. My dear friend struggled to stay pregnant for years and when it finally happened, she had to search high and low for a practice that didn’t put her weight at the center of her pregnancy journey. She advocated for herself when she shouldn’t have had to, and it made her pregnancy all the more stressful. Her body did exactly what every pregnant person’s body does, and she doesn’t deserve to be labeled any differently. And let’s not forget the average woman in American is a size 16.
Celebrate Your Body
Just as we celebrate tiny pregnant women, we should also celebrate the average pregnant woman. Everyone deserves recognition for the hard work of creating a human life. Personally, I think we all deserve celebration regardless but right now we’re talking about maternity sessions. I have made it my personal mission to make sure pregnant people of all sizes and labels feel beautiful and celebrated. And end up with stunning images to remember that they’re gorgeous and life-giving goddesses.
