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Ashley Graham opens up about pressure to ‘snap back’ after giving birth

Watch: Ashley Graham calls out the postpartum 'snap back'

Ashley Graham has called out the pressure many women feel to "snap back" to their pre-pregnancy figures after giving birth.

The model and body positive advocate welcomed her first child, Isaac Menelik Giovanni Ervin, with her husband Justin Ervin, just over a year ago and has regularly discussed the impact pregnancy and birth had on her body image and how she learnt to embrace her postpartum body.

Now reflecting back on her first twelve months of motherhood, Graham wants to set the record straight on the pressure new parents feel to get back to their pre-pregnancy weight and shape.

"I think the postpartum snapback is really BS," she told E!. "I think it's an unattainable reality for most women and it's been an unattainable reality for myself."

Read more: Ashley Graham praised for showing unshaven armpit hair in naked photo

Ashley Graham has called out the pressure for women to 'snap back' into shape after giving birth, pictured in June 2019. (Getty Images)
Ashley Graham has called out the pressure for women to 'snap back' into shape after giving birth, pictured in June 2019. (Getty Images)

She went on to share that when it comes to embracing her body, she finds it helpful to repeat positive mantras.

"For me, it's all about words and affirmation," she explained. "I know that my words have so much power over my life and my future that I'm very careful with how I use them."

Since welcoming her first baby last year, Graham has been busy using her social media platform to try to normalise the postpartum journey, helping other mums to feel confident about their bodies.

Not only did she proudly show off her postpartum stretch marks, in a bid to help encourage others to embrace their own, she was also praised by fans for sharing her post-birth healing journey.

Sharing a candid post to Instagram, she explained she'd found “no one talks about the recovery” aspect of new motherhood.

“Raise your hand if you didn’t know you’d be changing your own diapers too," she wrote.

“After all these years in fashion I never could’ve guessed that disposable underwear would be my favourite piece of clothing but here we are!”

Read more: Ashley Graham pumps breast milk backstage at fashion week

The model has also been sharing her honest experiences of breastfeeding,posting snapshots of herself feeding her son in various places.

In one image the model mum shared a sweet snap of herself sat in bed breastfeeding her newborn.

“Multitasking Sunday,” she captioned the intimate image, which prompted many mothers to express gratitude for normalising the feeding practice.

Watch: Ashley Graham doesn't always want to talk about her body.

She also recently shared an adorable video of her breastfeeding Isaac.

"Perfect morning with my sweet lil man," she captioned the video. "The snow in NYC is wild today, but still going to throw Isaac into his snow suit for a quick sled sheesh!"

Read more: Ashley Graham poses in maternity pants in body positive Instagram post

Graham also gave an insight into her return to work as a catwalk model after maternity leave. While making an appearance on the Fendi catwalk during Milan Fashion Week, the mum-of-one revealed she’d been using a breast pump while getting her make-up done.

More recently, the model was praised for sharing beautiful images of women’s bodies in an inspiring body positive post shared to Instagram.

Posting nine candid pictures of naked women embracing their bodies in an all their natural beauty, Graham applauded the women’s body confidence and thanked them for giving her inspiration to keep working on her own self-image.

“Just wanted to say thank you for tagging me in all your beautiful pictures,” she wrote in the accompanying caption.

“It’s not always easy to love every inch of your body. I’ve learned it’s a daily practice, not just a finish line,” she continued.

“Seeing all your beauty and confidence in these inspires me more than you’ll ever know and looking at them is one of my favorite parts of Instagram! I’m just so grateful for this community. We are stronger together!”

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