Kelly Ripa was body-shamed when she returned to work 2 weeks after giving birth

When Kelly Ripa gave birth to her first son, Michael, it wasn’t all good days ahead. She’s now opening up about her postpartum experience, and it’s something no woman should ever have to go through.

On Wednesday’s episode of her podcast, Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, she talked with guest Hilarie Burton Morgan about returning to the set of All My Children, the soap that launched her career in 1990 — and where she met her husband, Mark Consuelos. The first problem: Ripa had to be back to work just nine days after giving birth. Nine.

“I think all women who have given birth will tell you that they are on an island,” she said. “I don’t care what the support system is like — my in-laws moved in with us and I felt like I was on an island because I didn’t recognize my body.”

When Burton heard of how quickly Ripa was expected to return to the show, she called it “brutal.”

“It was brutal,” Ripa agreed, before sharing an even worse story.

“And then the wardrobe people were like, ‘I thought you’d be smaller by now.’ I was like, ‘Well I’m not gonna be smaller any time soon. I don’t know much, but here’s what I do know. This looks like it’ll be here for a while. I’m not in any rush, so.’”

Suffice it to say, we hope anyone who made those comments is taking a good, hard look in the mirror right now. 

While Ripa’s treatment on All My Children was abhorrent, it’s the systemic issue that’s the problem. The U.S. remains the only developed nation on Earth without mandated paid parental leave. We can — and must — do better.