With her enviably toned limbs and a seemingly flat tummy, it’s hard to believe fitness queen Kayla Itsines gave birth to her baby daughter just three weeks ago.
The 27-year-old took to Instagram to share her ‘post birth recovery’ in side-by-side pictures comparing ‘week two’ and ‘week three’ since welcoming little Arna Leia.
But the Australian personal trainer has been slammed for sharing her quick ‘bounce back’ body transformation – as critics claimed her post adds pressure for new mothers to get into shape after giving birth.
Kayla Itsines (pictured left at week two and right at week three since giving birth) has come under fire for sharing her post-pregnancy transformation just three weeks after giving birth
Critics claimed Kayla’s body transformation since giving birth adds pressure for new mothers to ‘bounce back’ into shape after giving birth (pictured pregnant with fiance Tobi Pearce)
‘I am all for supporting women but I don’t think it’s uplifting to post something that focuses on your thinness after two or three weeks after giving birth,’ one said.
One woman said: ‘These photos are so dangerous, make other mums feel like they should already be back to “normal”.’
Another wrote: ‘I think that this is great that she has managed to spring back quickly but I think this puts pressure on the normal people in the world that they need to get back to their pre-baby weight fast.’
And one said: ‘Such a shame to be so image concerned when you have a newborn to immerse yourself in. Kayla looks great, but she doesn’t represent the majority of mum’s out there, who are all beautiful irrespective of how flat their tummies are after they have given birth.’
However, many people quickly jumped to Kayla’s defence, saying she has worked extremely hard to retain her slim physique.
‘People it’s not easy or genes or luck. Kayla puts in the hard work and gets results. No big secret or conspiracy. She looks great,’ one said.
Another mother said: ‘Looking great, Kayla. I bounced back quickly after my first labour too because I worked damn hard on staying healthy and active.
And one said: ‘Why so much negativity? Come on girls! Let’s be happy for each other and pick each other up. Don’t criticise and pick apart. She looks incredible.’
Earlier this month, the 27-year-old posted the last image she took before giving birth at 39 weeks and another shot one week after the birth of Arna
The mix responses comes after Kayla addressed her 11.3 million followers about how every woman’s pregnancy journey, birth and healing process is different.
‘While each journey has a common thread that connects us as women, our personal experience, our relationship with ourselves and our body will always be our own,’ she said.
‘For me, regardless of how my body healed post-birth, I felt it was really important for me personally to embrace, appreciate and celebrate my body the same way that I tell all the women in this community to celebrate their body.
‘For me right now, I celebrate my body for all it has been through and the absolute joy it has brought into my life with Arna.
‘As a personal trainer, all I can hope for you ladies is that you feel encouraged to do the same regardless of whether you have just given birth or not, celebrate your body and the gift that it is.
‘No matter what journey you have been on with your body, the ways in which it heals, supports, strengthens and adapts to take us through life is truly incredible.’
Earlier this month, the founder of Australian workout series Bikini Body Guide posted the last image she took before giving birth at 39 weeks and another shot one week after the birth of Arna.
Welcome to the world: Kayla told how she stared into her partner’s eyes while giving birth
‘If I am honest it is with great trepidation that I share with you this very personal image,’ she captioned the side-by-side post.
‘Every woman’s journey through life but especially pregnancy, birth and healing post-birth is unique.
‘While each journey has a common thread that connects us as women, our personal experience, our relationship with ourselves and our body will always be our own.’
Kayla said she felt a desire to share her own healing process to encourage other women in her community to ’embrace, appreciate and celebrate’ their bodies.
‘For me right now, I celebrate my body for all it has been through and the absolute joy it has brought into my life with Arna,’ she said.
‘As a personal trainer all I can hope for you ladies is that you feel encouraged to do the same regardless of whether you have just given birth or not, celebrate your body and the gift that it is.
‘No matter what journey you have been on with your body, the ways in which it heals, supports, strengthens and adapts to take us through life is truly incredible.’
Tobi also posted a picture on Instagram of him holding his new little one shortly after birth
While many of her followers were congratulating the successful entrepreneur on her pregnancy journey, others said she didn’t even ‘look post partum’.
‘You don’t even look post partum… you just look bloated from cake,’ one person said.
‘You look like me after lunch lol. Don’t sweat it! You still look great and will be back to yourself in no time,’ another said.
A third added: ‘Looks like me on a good day’.
Kayla gave birth to Arna via caesarean at the end of April, her fiance Tobi Pearce, 26, by her side the entire time.
In a lengthy caption on her social media birth announcement Kayla described how she stared into his eyes during the delivery before her ‘perfect’ child was born.
Last week Kayla Itsines said she won’t be posting photos of her ‘muffin’ on social media
The young couple embraced as Tobi, with tears streaming down his face, whispered ‘she’s so perfect, I love you.’
She wrote: ‘I just stared into Tobi’s eyes the whole time during delivery, nervously whispering ‘please let her be healthy, please be okay, please be okay’ and Tobi kept repeating ‘I love you so much – she’s going to be healthy it’s okay just breathe it’s okay’. We both were crying.
‘In that second, we heard her cry for the first time, the doctors and nurses examined her quickly, bought her over to us and said ‘she is absolutely perfect’. My doctor said ‘Look at that hair and those cheeks! Amazing!’
‘I don’t even know how to describe how I felt in that moment. I looked over at Tobi who looked like the proudest Dad I’ve ever seen, with tears running down his face he gave me a kiss on the forehead and whispered ‘She’s so perfect, I love you’.
‘She is perfect indeed! From the start, she knew exactly who we were and was instantly calm.