Gemma Atkinson has said 'it's such a shame' after getting a big response to her post-partum body as she discussed undergoing 'treatment'. The Hits Radio host welcomed her second child into the world with her Strictly Come Dancing star fiance Gorka Marquez back in July.
The couple, who met on the BBC One dance contest in 2017, announced back in January that they were expanding their brood following the birth of their first child, Mia, in July 2019. The pair then kept their fans and followers updated during the pregnancy and have continued to do so since their baby boy, Thiago Thomas Marquez, made a safe arrival into the world on July 17.
This includes Gemma offering open and honest updates on life as a new mum-of-two as well as how she's working her way back towards her previous fitness prowess. The 38-year-old has made no secret of the fact while pregnant with Thiago, known as Tio for short, that she was looking forward to returning to her fitness regime once her son had arrived and it was safe to do so.
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On Thursday (November 2), Gemma took to Instagram, resharing a video from Bump to Beyond, a women's health physio clinic, about diastasis recti after asking: "Do you still feel you like you are pregnant?" Typing losing the clip, Bury-born Gemma wrote: "This is what I'm currently being treated for."
She then shared a video of herself speaking directly to the camera with Tio, who is almost four-months-old in her arms, as she spoke about her post-partum recovery and having diastasis recti, which she says she calls 'ab separation'. "With Mia, a tiny, tiny baby, I had a three-centimeter gap and it went back within four/five months.
"With this fella, this little chunky monkey, obviously second baby, a much bigger baby - he was twice the size of Mia, I had a six centimeter gap and I've got it down to around three now so it's taken a lot longer, obviously, but it's normal. If you've got it, don't be feeling c**p and beating yourself up.
"If you've grown a baby, chances are you might have abs separation, you might have stretch marks, you might have lose skin. It's all the price we pay for these little gems." Gemma also typed alongside the video: "I've still a long way to go in my recovery.
"Don't beat yourself up for your body doing THE most incredible thing in growing and birthing your baby. With the correct rehab and advice from professionals, you can make changes to your diastasis recti which will help with so many things down the line. A weak core is sometimes a reason for back pain later in life."
Gemma went on to share a video of herself taken four months post-partum after Mia's birth in 2019 before sharing a recent video following the birth of Tio. Later, she shared a message she had received from a mum who said she thinks she has the same thing as Gemma but had never realised and has spent time trying to lose her 'baby belly' when it could be diastasis recti.
In a video in response, the former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star said: "So my messages like that have just come through and it's such a shame. When you've had a baby you're all over the gaffe anyway. Your hormones, you feel like s**t one day, high as a kite the next and the last thing you need when you're trying to eat well, trying to exercise, trying to do everything you can and still got this pouch thinking it's something you're doing.
She added: "It's literally your muscles. Your muscles have literally opened. If you break your leg or your arm, you put it in a cast. You put it in a cast and heal it but when it comes to your abs post-partum, nothing's said about it until down the line when you have the problems... Thank god the information is out there now. We just need to keep talking about it and keep sharing it."
