Kate Middleton Lives Up to the Pressure to Look Perfect After Baby

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The royal family emerges from the hospital with Kate Middleton looking flawless hours after giving birth. (Photo: Getty)

Congratulations to the royal family! George has a little sister, and I am sure Britain is going wild. When I was there last week, people were already lining up in anticipation of the big news. The world was thrilled to get the first glimpse of the little princess when William and Kate emerged from the hospital looking gorgeous.

As a mom of three, I am pretty amazed by how Kate managed to pull off looking perfect, not a hair out of place, with flawless makeup too. I can only imagine the pressure she must feel to look amazing. Those first photographs were published around the world, within seconds, and will be a part of history. She definitely must have had a beauty crew immediately summoned to the hospital to give her that perfect blowout, and possibly color, along with a full face of makeup.

Part of me thinks it is great that Kate pulled it off. But another part of me worries that it sets unrealistic expectations for women. Anyone who has already had children knows what I am talking about. Birth is a tough experience that leaves you depleted, puffy, swollen, and exhausted — it is the total opposite of glamorous. None of that matters, of course, because you are beyond thrilled to meet your baby. The reality is that 99 percent of women don’t walk out of the hospital looking camera-ready, and that’s OK. There have been many actresses, like Brooke Shields and Salma Hayek, who have talked about how tough it is to have a microscope on them after giving birth, when they felt far from perfect. I respect the pressure Kate is under, but I hope women realize that having a baby is messy, chaotic, and imperfect — and that’s beautiful.

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