A model and midwife from the Gold Coast, Queensland, has opened up about the drastic differences to her online image and profile since having a baby.
Hannah Polites, 26, who boasts more than 1.5 million followers online for her fitness posts and bikini snaps, gave birth to her little girl Evaliah in August, 2016, and has faced constant criticism of her parenting from trolls ever since.
And speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin, Hannah revealed that she’s also lost many of her male followers since her pregnancy.
A model and midwife from the Gold Coast, Queensland, has opened up about the drastic differences to her online image and profile since having a baby
Hannah Polites, 26, who boasts more than 1.5 million followers online for her fitness posts and bikini snaps, gave birth to her little girl Evaliah in August, 2016, and has faced constant commentary on her parenting ever since
And speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin , Hannah revealed many of her male fans have unfollowed her since pregnancy
‘I definitely have lost a lot of male followers and people that maybe aren’t interested in babies but I’ve gained a lot of mummy followers since my page has changed a lot,’ Hannah said.
‘Evaliah is a part of me, but I try not to share too many pictures of her because that’s not why people followed me in the first place.’
Hannah also said that she gets comments from people saying she ‘should be looking after the baby’ but stressed that they do ‘everything’ together.
‘I definitely have lost a lot of male followers and people that maybe aren’t interested in babies but I’ve gained a lot of mummy followers since my page has changed a lot,’ Hannah said
‘Evaliah is a part of me, but I try not to share too many pictures of her because that’s not why people followed me in the first place,’ she said
‘I think if Evaliah isn’t in the photo they just assume I’m not with her,’ she said
‘I think if Evaliah isn’t in the photo they just assume I’m not with her,’ she said.
Hannah also faced ciriticism just three weeks after giving birth when she posted a photo of herself and her newborn.
In the photo, she held Evaliah Grace in one arm – something that angered her many followers.
Hannah posted this photo of herself three weeks after giving birth and faced criticism for how she was holding Evaliah
Ms Polites wore the same dress on New Year’s Eve 2015 (pictured), before she was pregnant
The midwife has more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram
‘You look good but please don’t hold that baby like that,’ one person said.
Dr Andrew Pesce, who is a leading obstetrician and former president of the Australian Medical Association, told Daily Mail Australia that whilst it didn’t look like ‘the most comfortable position’ there was nothing in the photo which in this opinion suggested a risk of harm to the baby.
The dress she wore in the photo is the same one she wore on New Year’s Eve in 2015, before she fell pregnant.
The fact she was able to fit in to it less than three weeks after giving birth also caused quite a stir.
Critics also accused Hannah of exercising too much in the weeks after giving birth
‘Looks like she’s got more attention for her phone than supporting than little baby’s neck [sic],’ one person wrote.
‘It looks like she prefers show her body and not the baby,’ said another.
The comments caused Hannah to hit back.
‘Calm down people, I know how to hold my baby safely and have barely left her side for more than a couple of minutes since she was born,’ she wrote.
She has been criticised before for her baby body, with haters saying she was too ‘thin’ while pregnant
She said she would continue to post photos of her body and not let the critics get her down
‘You can bond with your child without needing to lose your identity.’
Other commenters also rushed to her defence.
‘Good on @hannahpolites for looking so fricking amazing 2 weeks after giving birth while she just probably stopped for 2 seconds from rushing around to take a photo! Because I know if I looked that good then I’d be doing it too! Get some life experience before you judge every single mother out there!’ wrote one supporter.