I was size 6 at 7 months pregnant – mums bullied me out of baby groups & wanted proof I’d given birth

LIKE many new mums Samantha Ball was keen to join a mum and baby group.

She wanted to make friends and discuss little one Leo's progress.

So the content creator from Sheffield, South Yorks., who lives with partner Dylan Yarborough 24, was horrified when people asked if she even carried Leo.

Size 6 Samantha fought cruel jibes throughout her pregnancy and in the aftermath of Leo's birth in 2017.

Now she tells her shocking story to Fabulous:

Standing in the middle of the crowded train, my heavy suitcases weighing me down, I felt absolutely exhausted.

It was November 2016 and I was seven months pregnant. My feet ached, my back was sore and I needed to sit down.

‘You’d think someone would let a pregnant lady sit down’, I said loudly to my friend and looked around hopefully for a seat.

One or two passengers glanced at me, then looked at my body and turned away. I wish I’d had my scan to show them proof but instead I had to endure an hour long journey home on my feet.

It wasn't the first time people cast doubt on the fact I was pregnant. At 5ft 7"and 8st, I have always been around a size 6/8.

Pregnancy didn’t change that.

Friends would constantly say I didn’t look pregnant. I used to get really tearful because of their comments – I just wanted to show off a baby bump.

My bump was hardly visible until I was seven-and-a-half months pregnant and people were constantly questioning whether I was telling the truth about the fact I was carrying a baby.  

I found out I was pregnant in May 2016. Dylan and I had only been together for five months and we were in our first year of university so it was a shock to us both. 

I’d suffered eating disorders in the past. When I left school in 2013, I felt the only way to control my life was through food. 

I was a size four and I wasn’t eating. My mum took me to the doctors and although they tried to bulk up my calorie intake, I ignored it and didn’t put on any weight. 

It was only when I was 18 and the doctor told me I’d have trouble having a family if I carried on like this that I decided I couldn’t let food control me. I had always wanted to be a mum.

We weren’t trying to have a baby, but once I found out I was pregnant, it was yet another reminder to stop pushing food around my plate and feed my baby. 

I started eating bigger meals than before including junk food and constantly craved strawberry milkshakes. 

My body needed more calories. Despite my relationship with food getting better, people constantly told me that I didn’t look pregnant, which hurt me deeply. 

It made me guilty too, as if I’d done something wrong. I was terrified that my baby would suffer because I wasn’t healthy and would bombard my midwife with questions.

Friends would constantly say I didn’t look pregnant. I used to get really tearful because of their comments – I just wanted to show off a baby bump.

My worst memory was when I had an appointment with a substitute midwife and told her I was 32 weeks and she stared at me in disbelief. She thought I was ten weeks. 

By Christmas morning, only two months before I would give birth, people still couldn’t see my bump. But on Christmas evening after a large dinner it just popped out from nowhere. 

I went to a mum and baby group and I was told it wasn’t normal to look so skinny. They were asking to see photos of my bump to prove I'd carried my child. I hated it and didn't go back.

I always knew I had the bump there, but suddenly everyone else saw it too. They wanted to touch it constantly.

Yet the bump shaming didn’t stop. I posted a photo of it and a friend said: 'You don't look big enough for seven and a half months' so I deleted the photo, embarrassed. Looking back, I wish I didn’t, but I felt ashamed.

As my due date came, I grew bigger but not big enough for some people. At nine months most people still thought I was only six months pregnant.

After a 21-hour labour I gave birth to Leo weighing 7lb 7oz and I was in shock because I’d only put on 7lb throughout my pregnancy. My size six clothes still fit, but my tops were snug because they couldn’t go over my stomach. 

The midwives explained that I didn’t have much water weight, which is why I was so small.

After the birth, my body bounced back to its normal size immediately and I received even more horrible comments. 

A few people said he couldn’t be mine, because he was so big. I went to a mum and baby group and I was told it wasn’t normal to look so skinny. They were asking to see photos of my bump to prove I'd carried my child. I hated it and didn't go back.

It took four months to start feeling confident in myself and ignore the comments. Six months after having Leo, my relationship with food improved even more because I was teaching him good habits.

Looking back, I know people probably didn’t mean to be cruel but I'd always take the comments personally. I wish I told people it made me uncomfortable instead of brushing it off.

I’m so glad that my weight didn’t affect Leo, he was happy and healthy and that is all that matters.

Meanwhile, this mum told how she was fat-shamed on her birthday – but got revenge by losing five stone and rejecting her tormenter.

And a woman's divorce pushed her to shed eight-stone – doesn't Victoria look brilliant!

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