Gemma Atkinson shares the realities of post-pregnancy body in relatable post
Actress, Gemma Atkinson, has stressed the “importance” of showing how her body has changed post-birth in a relatable interview.
The 35-year-old has an 8-month-old baby girl - Mia - with Strictly Come Dancing profession, Gorka Marquez.
In an interview with Women’s Health magazine, she explained her body “doesn’t look like it did before”.
Atkinson shared a behind the scenes look at her photoshoot on her Instagram account.
In the post, the actress admitted that she felt “uncertain” about her second Women’s Health cover shoot, given that it was just six months after she gave birth.
“Since having Mia I’ve trained slowly in my own time to get back to feeling like myself again.
“After seeing what my physical & mental self can deal with from growing, carrying and birthing Mia through a last minute emergency C section & haemorrhage to now, seeing her thrive daily has made me realise, I’M ALWAYS READY!” She shared.
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Speaking about her body in the interview, Atkinson said: “It’s changed after having a baby, but that made me more determined to do (the shoot) – my body is not better or worse, just different.”
”I was always straight up and down, like a surfboard, but now I’ve got a bit of a waist. When I put on high-waisted jeans, you can see I’ve got hips.
“I reckon I’m about 3% J-Lo now, so I’m happy with that.” She explained how her body has changed since the birth of her daughter.
The former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star admitted that her usual fitness routine faced a dramatic change after Mia’s birth in July 2019.
Mia was born by emergency caesarian section, which takes longer to recover from.
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“The C-section completely floored me; I couldn’t brush my hair I was in so much pain.
“A caesarean goes through seven layers of fat, tissue and muscle, so it takes a long time to get better and, for me, it wasn’t sensible to start exercising until around 15 weeks after Mia was born.”
Prior to having a baby, Atkinson used to train twice a week with a personal trainer.
Since giving birth, she admits she has only been able to see him three times in the last six months due to the all-consuming nature of being a new mum.
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She has managed to keep up with her fitness goals at home, though.
“Gorka knew how much my fitness meant to me, so he built a gym in our house.
“A big part of the battle for many people is getting to the gym in the first place, so knowing it’s only two seconds away makes it a lot easier.”
The full interview appears in the April issue of Women’s Health.
