It takes time for your body, and especially your tummy, to fully recover from pregnancy. You’ve had your baby, but you may look as if you’re still six months pregnant, with a tummy that’s squishier and rounder than you expected.

Imagine your tummy as a balloon, slowly inflating as your baby grows. Giving birth doesn’t pop the balloon, it just starts a slow leak. The decrease in your tummy size may be slow, but it will be steady. From the moment your baby is born, hormonal changes cause your tummy to decrease in size. However, it takes another six to eight weeks for your womb (uterus) to contract to its pre-pregnancy size.

The extra fluid that built up in your body during pregnancy will gradually decrease, reducing swelling and bloating. And any extra fat you put on to nourish your baby will start to burn off, especially if you’re breastfeeding and exercising. But it takes at least a few weeks to see noticeable results.

After giving birth you may still have a dark line down your tummy called a linea nigra, as well as a web of stretch marks. The linea nigra is caused by pigmentation in the skin where your tummy muscles have stretched and slightly separated, to accommodate your baby as she grew. This line of pigmentation usually fades within a few months of giving birth. Stretch marks are caused by your skin stretching over your fast-growing body during pregnancy. You may have them on your tummy, thighs and breasts.

You can’t get rid of stretch marks completely, but they will fade over time. Eventually, the lines will look like fine streaks that are closer to your skin colour. Try to be patient. You may not like your stretch marks now, but they will look a lot better in six months’ time.

We’ve all heard stories of new mums who regain their pre-pregnancy bodies within weeks of giving birth. Although this is possible, it doesn’t happen that way for most mums. Bear in mind that your body may change shape after pregnancy. You may find it difficult to return to your exact pre-pregnancy weight or shape.

Patience is the key. It took nine months for your tummy muscles to stretch to accommodate a full-term baby. So it makes sense that it can take weeks or months to tighten up again.

The speed and degree of this tightening up depends on a few factors, including:

• What shape and size you were before you conceived your baby.
• How much weight you gained during pregnancy.
• How active you are.
• Something you can’t do anything about: your genes.

You may find it easier to shed the weight if:

• You gained less weight than average during pregnancy.
• You breastfeed.
• This is your first baby.

Most women don’t get back to their pre-pregnancy weight until about six months after their baby’s birth.