Millie Mackintosh stuns in swimwear as she talks about feeling ‘ashamed of my postpartum body’

She welcomed her first child, a daughter named Sienna, with her husband Hugo Taylor in May last year. 

And Millie Mackintosh speaks about being a first time mum, how she felt ‘a bit ashamed of my postpartum body’ and Sienna’s hip dysplasia in April’s issue of Women’s Health. 

11 months on from giving birth, the former Made In Chelsea star, 32, looked incredible as she proudly showed off her toned figure in swimwear in the striking cover shoot. 

In one photo, Millie showcased her enviably taut abs and long legs in a pale blue bikini, while the reality star sported slicked back hair and a white cut out swimsuit in another shot. 

But while the television personality looks the picture of confidence in the glossy images, Millie candidly revealed she struggled to even look in the mirror the first three months after Sienna’s birth. 

‘It was honestly quite hard to see my body after a baby. And I think it is for a lot of women,’ she said. 

‘It can really feel like a shock and something that’s hard to love, maybe – and hard to feel good about. 

‘I did feel self-conscious when I went out and wouldn’t want anything to be tight to my tummy.

‘And, yeah, I did feel a bit ashamed of my postpartum body. And it’s kind of sad that I felt that. It feels good to admit that and say, “yeah, I did struggle looking in the mirror for the first three months”.’ 

But Millie, who has worked hard gradually reintroducing her fitness regime and nutrition in the months after Sienna’s birth, said she has learnt to love her figure. 

Joking she’s ‘mainly lived in a tracksuit for the last year’, due to the pandemic, she added: ‘[My figure] definitely won’t go back to being exactly the same as before and I’m okay with that…I feel more womanly, and I’m really loving it.’ 

The brunette beauty also touched upon receiving Sienna’s hip dysplasia diagnosis. 

The diagnosis meant that Sienna had to wear a special harness for six to 12 weeks in order to treat the dysplasia, making it hard for Millie to cuddle and breastfeed her daughter.

‘It was a really difficult and scary time,’ she said. ‘The stress of going from having quite a chilled baby to a baby that’s just crying and upset and you can’t do anything. 

‘It was really heartbreaking. But as she’s crawling normally and doing well, we’re hopeful and remaining positive that her hips are healthy. They caught the condition early, so it shouldn’t affect her later in life.’ 

Millie also described what it was like becoming a mother to her little girl as she said: ‘It’s like crazy stupid love. Your life is turned upside down. [I’ve] just never felt the love like it – it’s crazy how much your heart opens and, yeah, she’s incredible.’  

Millie and Hugo originally dated for six months in 2011, before Millie dumped Hugo when she found out he’d cheated with her best friend and co-star Rosie Fortescue.

Millie then met her future husband, rapper Professor Green, 37, real name Stephen Manderson, who she tied the knot with in September 2013.

The ex-couple were married for two-and-a-half years, before finalising their divorce in May 2016, the same week Millie and Hugo went public with their rekindled romance. 

Rapper Stephen has since welcomed a little girl of his own with girlfriend Karima McAdams. Actress Karima gave birth to daughter Slimane Ray Manderson earlier this month.  

Read the full Millie Mackintosh interview in the May issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale from 7th April