NEW ORLEANS - Three years ago, entertainer Teyana Taylor shared a photo of herself with a flat stomach after giving birth to her baby girl. Since then, the post has inspired moms across the world to post their post-baby bodies on social media with the hashtag #snapbackbody.
New mom Ashley Bailey sees a lot of these pictures and she says other women's progress did affect how she felt about her body and weight.
"We see these celebrities and I have to remind myself they have personal trainers, resources and nannies," Bailey said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself about how much (weight) I should gain,"
One OB-GYN says there has always been pressure on new moms to get back to their pre-baby bodies, but she says that social media has made that pressure public. And it is impacting how women judge their progress.
"We all know in our rational brains that we can't believe everything we see on the internet. But, our emotional brains don't necessarily always believe that," Dr. Brooke Schexnaildre said.
Dr. Schexnaildre says it is important to set realistic expectations.
"For the first two weeks, you should just go home and focus on being a mom, acclimating to this tiny human who lives in your house," she said.
As for all the pictures of flat stomachs after birth, Dr. Schexnaildre says that most women don't have super flat stomachs before pregnancy and it takes a uterus four to six weeks to shrink back to pre-pregnancy size.
"So I can tell you from personal experience, it was very sad taking my first shower because I was like,'I still look six months pregnant,'" Dr. Schexnaildre confessed.
Loose skin on the abdomen, saggy breast skin and stretch marks are all normal.
"When you look in the mirror and you see those stretch marks, you get that toddler and say, 'This is what it took to get you here.' They will think its beautiful and you won't want to change it for anything," Dr. Schexnaildre suggests.
Bailey says that being with her daughter, Sloan, makes all of the physical changes she has been through worth it.