Hilaria Baldwin loves keeping it real.
The 36-year-old Mom Brain cohost is known for her honesty in all areas of her life. The newly minted mom of five recently took to Instagram to share a story about putting her belly button ring back in after giving birth.
The post was meant to be funny, but some critics believed the mom was showing off her postpartum belly. Hilaria and Alec welcomed a baby boy, Eduardo Pau Lucas Baldwin, on September 8.
Hilaria has been standing up to negative commentary a lot more lately. In an effort to preserve her peace in this trying time, she's asking people to stay positive. That's not always how it works, however, and this was one of those times.
Hilaria got real with a discussion of both sides of body positivity. She explains she's a big advocate for embracing the skin you're in, but that it should truly apply to all bodies.
Hilaria Baldwin is very open about what's on her mind. The Mom Brain cohost lives her life out loud, for better or for worse. As you can imagine, the mom of five has gotten her fair share of criticism over the years.
The 36-year-old welcomed her fifth child on September 8. She and husband Alec Baldwin welcomed their fourth son. Eduardo Pau Lucas Baldwin weighed 7 lbs., 8 oz. at birth.
Hilaria first caught flak after Edu's birth for how much she was chronicling her time with baby.
"Let me be really clear about something," Hilaria wrote.
"I will post here and there about how we are doing. If you send me a comment about how much to post or how little, and I happen to see the message, I will just block you."
"I'm not interested in seeing those opinions," she continued.
"5 kids in, we are happy, healthy, bonded, tired, busy, but blessed. The split second it takes to snap a pic or put it here, on our community that we built for years, is something I enjoy."
"Remember it's not just people I don't know who follow here," Hilaria noted.
"Although I feel really connected to our online family, it's also my family and friends too and we all want to stay in touch. Especially now, during COVID, when this is how they'll meet Edu.
"I look back to these pics and am always happy to pause and document. I never regret it. When I see a negative comment, I always wonder … why do you follow me, if you don't like what you see? Now back to my family."
The mom shamers came out in force again after Hilaria shared a video of her postpartum body. In the video, Hilaria shared that she had some help putting her belly button ring back in.
"The most important part of this video isn't the whole how recently I had a baby thing and whether you think I'm too this or that … it's not about my underwear, and it's not about my skin, or the fact that I'm exhausted and have no interest in makeup," she wrote.
"It's about the fact that I lay on my back while my friend shoved my belly piercing back in while I clenched my teeth. So 90s? Yup … and I'm 36, 5 kids, and still keeping it."
Plenty of mamas who have held onto their belly-button rings praised her in the comments.
"You're stunning and super inspirational. Thank you for always being so positive," one commenter wrote.
"I love belly rings! Your hard dedication to staying fit shows! Go mama. Looking amazing," another shared.
Some commenters felt like Hilaria didn't need to share a photo like that and was just looking for attention.
"Why take the photo in your underwear then?" one wrote.
"Because I have an almost 7-week-old and I'm too tired to put my pants on right now," Hilaria replied in an Instagram story.
Another commenter went as far as to call her a show-off.
"Do you not have any empathy for most women who do not look like you? Especially after having a baby? I think you're showing off and it's just not inclusive."
Hilaria took her time with a thought-out response.
"Having empathy does not mean not being oneself. I'm one of the biggest cheerleaders for body positivity and love. One thing you MUST know is that it comes in ALL different shapes and sizes, MINE INCLUDED," she wrote.
"I don't judge anyone's body. Would you applaud me in this post if I looked different? Think on that. Should I hide because of my body? I don't do anything wrong to be ashamed of my figure."
"I don't shame or hurt others," she continued.
"I don't think I'm better or worse. I don't tell people to look different. Or that how they naturally are is making me feel badly. So should someone say that to me? Should you say that to me? That, for me, is not inclusive."
"You are excluding me because you are projecting some society invented, shallow idea of what is 'beauty' and 'fit,'" Hilaria continued.
"I don't buy into it … and I can tell you hate and resent it … so why bring it here? Why throw it at me?"
