It was the moment every Molly-Mae Hague fan has been waiting for. Last night, the former Love Islander uploaded a video of her birth story to YouTube. But in it she mentions how her first few days as a new mum had been slightly tainted by the backlash she’s been subjected to.
The first wave arrived after Molly-Mae and partner Tommy Fury revealed their daughter’s name. They announced she was called Bambi on Instagram last week by posting a picture of the newborn in a see-through acrylic cotwith a Bambi teddy next to her and a Bambi neon light on the wall.
In her video, while holding the baby, she says ‘I’m Bambi Fury, that’s my name. I know some people may not like it, but I love it,’ then adds: 'The long-awaited name reveal was a really really hard day for me, I’ll be honest. I don’t know if you guys noticed but I switched the Instagram comments off.’ And then: ‘I think I was just brought back down to planet earth very very quickly, of like how nasty this world can be.’
Later in the video she also explains she was pounced on for calling her birth a natural delivery. 'A lot of people in my DMs said “you should have called it a vaginal delivery because all births are natural”, and when I read that I actually felt a bit disappointed in myself and upset that I’d not really thought of that. Of course all births, caesarean, vaginal, they’re all natural and all incredible however you give birth to your child or plan to give birth to your child however it turns out is natural and amazing and incredible.’
Poor Molly-Mae. Having a baby can be an earth-rocking, anxiety-inducing experience. Hormones are flying, your body is sore and bleeding and your world changes overnight. The first few days are notoriously difficult, however love-filled they may also be.
To start by criticising her baby name is unkind. It’s one thing to mock someone in a private WhatsApp groups but to comment on her post specifically so she sees and is publicly ridiculed is something else.
As for the backlash around her describing her birth as ‘natural’, this is an interesting point. It makes sense that some may take umbrage at the idea their caesarean isn’t considered ‘natural.’ But the timing of this criticism seems cruel. She shouldn't have been made to feel disappointed in herself for not covering all bases a few days after giving birth. If anyone had suggested I’d offended them a few days after my baby was born, when my paranoia and anxiety were already through the roof, it would have spoilt some of the sacred time when I was trying to get to know my baby.
Raising a fair point the rest of the time is easier to justify, because an influencer like Molly Mae puts themselves out there and invites the world into her life, but different rules should apply after someone has given birth. Even when it comes to a celebrity.
Open discussion is all very well, but pouncing on a woman for a well-intentioned slip-up days after she’s had a baby is unkind. And keep your views on baby names out of her comments section.