Emmerdale is being praised by mums who have commended the ITV soap for their "refreshingly realistic" representation of postpartum body image with character, Tracy Metcalfe.
Tracy, played by Amy Walsh, gave birth to her first born child last week and viewers have spotted that the character appears to still "carrying some baby weight" unlike many TV births where the new-mum appears to "bounce back."
It comes after the actress confirmed she was wearing a padded suit during the pregnancy story-line.
Viewers took to an Emmerdale fan group on Facebook to ask if the actress was pregnant in real life, one social media user said "I'd say she was she looks kind of heavy."
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However fans soon jumped to the actresses defence and praise Emmerdale producers for their sensible and true to life representation of a new mum.
One fan said: "They've probably made her wear padding so people don't complain that's she's gone back to her normal size really quickly after the birth."
Another added: "The actress who plays Mandy has confirmed that she is wearing padding also. It's amazing what they can do these days. Fake tummy, realistic baby dolls, and even face padding."
One person posted: "I find her still carrying some baby weight refreshingly realistic! I get tired of seeing women on TV giving birth without a hair out of place or their makeup smudged! Birthing a baby and caring for it immediately afterwards is exhausting, and messy, and definitely not glamorous (but every new mum is BEAUTIFUL!)"
While another fan said: "Not everyone loses all their baby weight straight away."
Another said: "I didn't lose my baby weight for months!"
One person added: "No she's not pregnant. When you have a baby, as soon as it comes out it doesn't automatically go down."
Another fan posted: "Well not everyone can go back into shape after baby is born I think they have done well in showing that."
While one person said: "You know some women still have a big tummy after giving birth, Tracey seemed to, but then a few days later it was much smaller, props! I'm pretty sure her tummy is back to normal now."
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
