Pregnant Paloma Faith has shared a message about body positivity and described herself as “insecure and worried”.
The singer announced she was expecting her second child last month following a “struggle” with IVF.
Faith, 39, later posted a picture of herself being sewn into a dress and has now appeared to respond to claims she was not “doing my bit” in terms of body positivity.
She shared a black-and-white photograph showing her growing baby bump and said “self acceptance is a personal journey,” adding she never intended to make anyone feel bad about themselves.
Faith wrote: “In pregnancy and beyond I want the healthiest body for me personally. That means finding the right balance between physical and mental strength.
“I would NEVER look at another person and judge their beauty standards by my own, or their health against mine because all of this stuff is personal. When I am pregnant and I say I am being sewn into a dress it’s because my body isn’t just changing, it’s changing at a very rapid rate.
“Not to mention in my job I’ve been sewn into a lot of dresses at varying sizes and for different reasons! My mind can’t keep up with the extra inches. It’s not about me saying things to make other people feel bad, it’s about the fact that I don’t want to increase in weight too fast because of the health of my baby.”
Faith, whose hits include Only Love Can Hurt Like This, said she wants to be healthy for the sake of her children, adding: “I am not skinny, and neither am I large. I am me, and my body standards are about me and how I feel the best in my own skin.”
Faith said: “I wish I could be confident in any shape and any size but the reality is, I’m just not. I’m insecure and worried, but I want to find the balance between a healthy relationship with my body and food and an obsessive one.
“It’s all a work in progress and self acceptance is a personal journey never meant to make anyone else feel shitty.”
Faith gave birth to her first child, who she had with French artist Leyman Lahcine, in 2016.