Why should Alia Bhatt have to justify her post-baby weight?

Should Alia Bhatt really have to justify her post-pregnancy weight? On Prime Video’s chat show 'Two Much with Kajol and Twinkle’ hosted by Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, she talked about the questions raised about her pregnancy weight. While some women are pressured to lose postpartum weight hurriedly, it would appear that women who do lose weight, are also questioned.

In her conversation with Kajol and Twinkle, Alia explained the reason for her postpartum weight loss. She revealed: "After giving birth to Raha, I actually put on quite a bit of weight. I was breastfeeding, and it burns a lot of calories, and I was also eating clean. So, I lost a lot of weight quite quickly." The question is, why should she have to provide an explanation?

The problem isn't restricted to Alia's experience. Women are still being policed in 2025 for the physical changes that occur naturally after giving birth. This leads to a cycle of criticism where you are damned if you do and damned if you do not.

Moms from Bollywood, like Kareena Kapoor Khan, suffered the wrath of the internet after Taimur’s birth, while Neha Dhupia was made to feel guilty during her pregnancy. In the West, the likes of Rihanna and Blake Lively were also subject to punditry surrounding their post-baby figures.

The fixation on this matter is indicative of a broader societal concept, referred to as natalism, whereby the female gender is induced to have progeny, yet not granted an alcove to navigate through physical, emotional and mental issues that come along with motherhood. Society not only applauds the act of giving life but also critiques the aftermath, hence setting impossible standards for women to "bounce back" flawlessly.

One way in which the likes of Alia Bhatt and other celebrity mothers are breaking the mould and redefining postpartum norms is by being open about the realities of the postpartum period. They are quite a contrast to the public who keep forgetting that giving birth to a human being is a natural procedure and that women should not be under public investigation about their bodies.

Slowly through their ordeals, people’s reaction is changing. But in 2025, shouldn't accepting the normalcy of post-baby transformations already be the case?