Author Giovanna Fletcher has recalled the moment she was fat-shamed by a nurse – less than two weeks after giving birth to her son, Buddy.
The 33-year-old explained that the incident happened when she had to bring her baby boy to the hospital for a nail infection, just 11 days after he was born.
She told Fabulous Online:
“One of the nurses asked Tom for a photo, which was fine. I mean, I was quite emotional at the time. I had just finished feeding and whatever else.
“But before taking the photo she said: ‘Oh look, Mummy’s still got her tummy’ and sort of laughed.
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a bit mean, but okay.’ I was all over the place as we had to leave Buzz at home and we were there with Buddy and my emotions were all over the place.
“And then she said to me, ‘Do you want to be in the photo?’ I said no, literally holding back the tears. Then she said, ‘Oh no, maybe another time when your face has slimmed down.’”
The soon-to-be mum-of-three recalled how she looked at herself in the shower a few days later, asking herself: ” How do I feel about this? How do I feel about this body that I’ve hated for two decades?”
And that’s when she came to a realisation.
She added:
“I then had a moment of realisation and was like ‘It’s amazing. My body is amazing’.
“I’ve hated it for decades because other people have their opinions on it and we see people looking to airbrushed and perfect.
“Ultimately what was negative got turned into a positive. People need to learn not to just say stuff.
“But if someone does say something like that to you, we need to learn that it’s just words. How we interpret it and how we let it affect us is what we can control.”
