Woman Is Body Shamed for Her Baby Bump That Appears to Grow In

Fashion designer and social media influencer Yiota Kouzoukas is used to getting personal messages from her more than 200,000 Instagram followers, but since she announced her pregnancy, she’s been bombarded with notes from critics.

The 29-year-old, who is now six months along, has shared frequent updates of her baby bump throughout her pregnancy. With every post, followers called her out for the small size of her stomach and accused her and the baby of being unhealthy.

In a recent update, Kouzoukas took time to “explain a few things” about her pregnancy journey and the way she is carrying her child.

“For the first 4 months of my pregnancy, my uterus was retroverted/tilted which means that I was growing backwards into my body rather than outwards,” she wrote alongside a photo of her bump.

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The mom-to-be told followers that her circumstance wasn’t uncommon, but it did last longer than most expectant moms with the condition.

“Most people with this type of uterus tilt forward at around 12 weeks and continue growing outwards like you normally would. My uterus didn’t ‘flip forward’ until well into being 4 months pregnant because of the backwards tilted position paired with decade old endometriosis scarring that I have on my uterosacral ligaments,” she explained. “Basically, these ligaments are acting like anchors keeping my uterus ‘inside’ rather than ‘outside,’ which is why I appeared smaller than most people for the first 4 or 5 months.”

At six months pregnant, Kouzoukas said she’s beginning to grow outward in the way other mothers do.

She added that her body’s shape and stature have affected the way she carries her child, too.

“My torso is also short and my stomach is naturally toned which is keeping my belly super tight, so I’ve had to personally stop all ab exercises to avoid any issues with possible ab separation,” she said. “This is for me personally, as instructed by my doctor and is in no way a blanket rule for anyone else.”

“I’m perfectly healthy, baby is perfectly healthy and that’s all that matters. Our bodies and bumps are all different and our shapes and sizes are all different too,” she concluded.

Kouzoukas chose to share her story not out of anger from the hateful comments she’d been receiving, but she hoped to educate people on her unique circumstance so others may learn not to judge people so quickly.