'Promise to love yourself regardless' - Judith's take on women's mental health awareness

"Once you get pregnant you already feel some sort of way about your body. There’s that inner consciousness you get about whether it’s okay to wear certain things and whether you should reveal or talk about your pregnancy. About three months after I gave birth, I looked in the mirror and HATED my body, my stomach was so huge, my face was fat and the scale read that I was 8kgs over my initial weight prior to being pregnant. I had a C-section and I just knew the recovery process and the SnapBack process was not going to be easy, especially with a whole newborn in front of me. Believe it or not people would constantly comment on my weight, tell me how big I’ve gotten and how much weight I’ve gained, like I’m duhh I just had a baby 😡🤬 but go on. I got depressed a bit, I just felt so fat, so huge and just so ugly. I hated taking pictures with my daughter. All I could think of was how a pretty little girl can have such an ugly looking mum. I got back to work and started getting out the house and some people complimented me and that made me feel good. I said to myself, yes I have gained weight but that is because I made such a wonderful thing. I gave myself a week of being in a funk till I kicked that somber depressed mood out the door. I’m not gonna lie some days are not easy, especially when fellow new mums are flaunting their weight loss or flat tummy’s. It sucks even more when you can’t fit into anything. However, I told myself to never let negativity get a hold of me again. Postpartum is not easy, there is so much more to maneuver besides how your body looks. But I hope whomever is reading this whether a postpartum mum or a person struggling with weight gain that you shouldn’t let your weight struggles takeover the life that is in front of you. Compliment yourself each day, buy some new clothes and heck EAT THAT ICE-CREAM, but promise to love yourself regardless of what you might currently look like." 👑Judith Esther Msonthi👑 •Instagram: @___judie_ #EndTheStigma #Youarenotalone As you know, this month is Mental Health awareness month. Around one in five women have a common mental health problem such as depression and anxiety. While there can be many reasons why these develop, some risk factors affect many women. To commemorate this disease and show that those suffering from mental illness are not alone, we would love for you to be part of our #EndTheStigma campaign. Please would you send us either a video/quote or a short story of your experience dealing with mental illness and how you overcame it. If you wish to stay anonymous, we will post your story without your name. Please include these key words #EndTheStigma and #youAreNotAlone in your post. You can send us your content for this on Instagram or via malawiangirlsrock@gmail.com #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #youarenotalone #endthestigma #Malawiangirlsrock