Nikki Bella Calls Out ‘BS’ Pressure To Bounce Back After Giving Birth: ‘It Messes With You’

Nikki Bella opened up to Ashely Graham about the pressure she and her twin sister, Brie, face to get back to work ‘in a short amount of time,’ calling major ‘BS’ on the societal pressures women face.

Nikki Bella got very candid about the post-pregnancy pressure she and her sister, Brie, faced following their recent pregnancies. The Bella twins, both 37, chatted with model and fellow mom Ashely Graham, 33, on the December 22 episode of her podcast Pretty Big Deal, where the ladies dug into the societal pressure so many women face to bounce back after they give birth. “What I’ve realized is as moms, we don’t talk about that enough because I think we feel like everyone then automatically thinks we hate our baby if we say we have postpartum depression, which, that’s not it at all,” Nikki said.

“It’s totally the battle within yourself, within your partner [or] significant other. Especially, I think, for career women,” she went on. Both Ashley and Brie completely agreed with Nikki’s observations. Nikki welcomed her first child, son Matteo, with fiancé Artem Chigvintsev at the end of July, while her twin sister gave birth to her second child, son Buddy Dessert Danielson, on August 1. Ashely also welcomed her first child, son Isaac, in January 2020.

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As the women delved further into the stress of bouncing back mentally, physically, and emotionally after having a child, Nikki noted just how jarring the journey can be. “We go from, like, these major careers and then we’re here. And then I’m looking in the mirror and then I think, [with] us in the spotlight, we have so much pressure on us to get back to where we were in a short amount of time.”

Nikki, Brie, and Ashley each called out the intense societal pressure as total “bullsh*t.” And Nikki went even further, recalling a comment someone made about her body following the birth of her precious baby boy. “Literally, someone the other day was like, ‘Gosh, she’s still big!’ and I was like ‘Excuse me?’” Nikki recalled.

More than anything, though, Nikki realized as a new mom how much those pressures can really get to someone. “It messes with you,” she told Brie and Ashely. While Nikki has been adjusting to motherhood at her own pace, she’s been wholly supported by her incredible partner and sweet baby boy. The conversation the women had, however, speaks volumes to what so many people face post-pregnancy. We cannot wait to see how these three ladies continue to use their platforms for change!