“I love my post-pregnancy body!”

• While most women are frustrated with the extra kilos pregnancy gifts them with, three women are celebrating their post-birth fuller figures. finds out more

The extra kilos gained during pregnancy are a source of worry for many women as they try to figure out how they will lose the weight and possibly return to their pre-pregnancy sizes.

However, there are women who do not mind the baby fat and are much happier with their post-birth bodies than they were before baby.

Three young mothers reveal that for late bloomers, pregnancy is the best thing that can happen to one’s body.

Mary Muthoni Mugo, 26, is a stay-at-home mother of one

“Two years ago I could have passed for a 17-year-old. I weighed 44kg, my bust was almost non-existent and my collarbone was so prominent that people would joke about putting a hanger on it.

I was uncomfortable hanging around my age mates as they looked more mature and when they were being nagged about getting married, no one nagged me because I still looked like a child.

I often wondered if I would get married or be able to breastfeed .

“Nonetheless, I met my husband when I was still small and my size was never an issue to him. But despite his assurances, I wanted to flesh out so that I could look like a full woman.

“I ate fatty foods but the only thing that got me was a big stomach. I also thought of taking pills promising me a fuller bust, larger hips and weight gain, but a pharmacist advised me against it.

“I put on weight during my third trimester and after delivery. I ate bigger portions of food because I wanted to produce enough milk for the baby.

“I now swing between 64 and 66kg and I am happy with it. When I look in the mirror I can hardly recognise myself. I no longer see a tiny girl with a jutting collarbone, sharp shoulder blades and thin arms.

Instead, I see a strong, curvy, attractive woman with fleshier arms that look desirably strong. I also see my bigger stomach and I would love to lose it, but I’d rather have a big tummy in my amazing new body, than a flat one in my former skinny body. I can’t believe that all these curves are mine!

“And they have made shopping much more fun because I am always confident of leaving the store with something that does not need resizing. I now wear more trousers and I love the way my hips fill them. I can proudly say that pregnancy is the best thing that happened to my body.

“With my new body, I also feel better in charge of my home. When I was pregnant, I worried that the house-help would not take me seriously because I would look like a baby instructing a woman, but thankfully, I look like the woman of the house.

“People have told me that I could lose the weight because of breastfeeding but let’s wait and see. The weight gain came with stretch marks which I tried to minimise using cocoa butter and baby oil, but it did not work and there is nothing much I can do about them.

“I plan to have another baby and I hope I will gain a maximum of 14kg, as anything above that will put me in the category of women trying to lose weight. If I become plus-size after my next child, I will exercise very hard to get down to at least 65kg.”

Kami Munderu, 24, runs Babyhouse, an online clothing store for babies. She is a mother of one.

“I used to be so small, I must have been size zero. I weighed 44kg before I got pregnant and people would joke that I looked like a walking stick. But I used my size to my advantage as a model.