In forcing her audience to confront her physical reality, the pop star took ownership of her body – and she did it in real time, says Morwenna Ferrier, ...
It became the most liked photograph on Instagram in 2017, with more than 10m likes (she revealed her first pregnancy on stage in 2011 at the MTV Video Music Awards, but no one really remembers that). The image became a blueprint for magazines, sending an empowering message in an era otherwise ridden with repressed corporeal ideals, but that didn’t stop some shops from banning it at the time. In terms of the reveal, I simply posted a headless mirror shot on Instagram in which I gently lifted my tracksuit to show a tiny bump. In 2017, Leibovitz [rehashed the concept](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/photos/2017/06/serena-williams-cover-story) with Serena Williams, an image that feels all the more powerful now, because Williams almost died after an emergency C-section from that pregnancy. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? Doing it on a public stage, as Rihanna did, was not only bold. The celebrity pregnancy reveal is, of course, more public – and it has a short, but storied tradition. But the image of the pregnant pop star, cradling her belly in a red silk Loewe catsuit as she descended from the heavens on a Perspex box, is surely up there with the greatest pregnancy reveals of the Instagram age. In forcing her audience to confront her physical reality, Rihanna went past making a fashion statement. During my pregnancy, I wore clothes that rearranged themselves around my changing shape: jeans with elasticated waistbands from Topshop, a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress given to me by a colleague and various billowing dresses in plissé fabrics from Asos, which I gave to a charity shop as soon as I was able to walk again. She took ownership of her body, and she did it in real time. The Daily Mail called her “shameless”.
Rihanna delivered her first baby in May. On Sunday, she revealed she's pregnant again. Back-to-back pregnancies can increase risks like preterm labor.
That's unusual, however, since [healthcare providers often recommend](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/sex-after-pregnancy/art-20045669#:~:text=While%20there's%20no%20required%20waiting,first%20two%20weeks%20after%20delivery.) waiting four to six weeks after birth to have sex in order to let the body heal — even after a C-section. "This also leads to improved health outcomes for the infant." For birth-control pills containing estrogen, doctors recommend waiting one month after giving birth to get started to Some research suggests at least two years of spacing is optimal, Shepherd told Insider. [Richards said](https://www.romper.com/p/is-having-irish-twins-safe-experts-explain-the-health-concerns-for-mom-baby-27622504). [reduce the risk of blood clots](https://www.insider.com/blood-clots-link-birth-control-unusual-but-real-serious-risk-2021-4), [according to the Mayo Clinic](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/sex-after-pregnancy/art-20045669#:~:text=While%20there's%20no%20required%20waiting,first%20two%20weeks%20after%20delivery.). [Alexandria Richards,](https://www.bswhealth.com/resident/alexandria-richards) an OB-GYN in College Station, Texas, [told the outlet](https://www.romper.com/p/is-having-irish-twins-safe-experts-explain-the-health-concerns-for-mom-baby-27622504). [told Romper](https://www.romper.com/p/is-having-irish-twins-safe-experts-explain-the-health-concerns-for-mom-baby-27622504). And while it's possible to get pregnant within weeks of birth, [What to Expect reports](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/sex-after-pregnancy/art-20045669#:~:text=While%20there's%20no%20required%20waiting,first%20two%20weeks%20after%20delivery.). [UK's National Health Service](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/support-and-services/sex-and-contraception-after-birth/#:~:text=You%20can%20get%20pregnant%20as,birth%2C%20including%20the%20first%20time.). [according to What to Expect](https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-health/how-soon-can-you-get-pregnant-after-giving-birth/#:~:text=on%20your%20terms.-,How%20soon%20can%20you%20get%20pregnant%20after%20giving%20birth%3F,re%20breastfeeding%20exclusively%20or%20not.), national medical associations recommend [waiting at least six months](https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/obstetric-care-consensus/articles/2019/01/interpregnancy-care#:~:text=Women%20should%20be%20advised%20to,pregnancy%20sooner%20than%2018%20months.) between pregnancies due to some increased risks.
Rihanna's pregnancy reveal was at once showstopping and subtle, dazzling and mundane. The impending birth of her second child was disclosed via a spandex ...
Rihanna revealed she was pregnant after performing at the Super Bowl, and that was inspirational. Rihanna was the star of the show. Rihanna gyrating on a platform, Rihanna soaring over a stadium, Rihanna singing the hook from “S&M” while ensconced in some sort of vinyl-boobed chestplate and presiding over a phalanx of backup dancers. “When you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world, you can do anything,” she’d said in a media preview, speaking of her decision to accept the gig. The impending birth of her second child was disclosed via a spandex jumpsuit on a stage floating at nosebleed altitude in the Super Bowl stadium during a halftime show performed for millions of viewers. Her choreography was sultry and sexy; less maternal-madonna than Madonna-Madonna, down to a few well-placed crotch grabs.
Here's how Chris Brown reacted to ex-girlfriend Rihanna's second pregnancy announcement at the Super Bowl.
The “1Train” rapper openly gushed about his “lady,” calling her “the love of my life” during the interview. [Rihanna](https://stylecaster.com/are-rihanna-asap-rocky-engaged/), debuted her first baby bump for the first time in January 2022 during a photoshoot alongside [ASAP Rocky](https://stylecaster.com/rihanna-asap-rocky-met-gala/), in Harlem, NY. In the photos—which you can see [here](https://people.com/parents/rihanna-pregnant-expecting-first-baby/)—the Anti singer wore low-rise jeans and a [long pink puffer jacket](https://stylecaster.com/rihanna-pregnancy-photos/), which she unbuttoned past her belly button to show off her growing bump. “I’ll have kids — three or four of ’em.” She also revealed to Interview Magazine in 2019 that she wanted children “more than anything in life.” She continued, “He’s in a relationship of his own,” Rihanna said. In February 2011, Rihanna agreed to drop the restraining order and she and Chris reunited in 2012 only to split a year later in 2013. “[It’s] so much better when you got the one,” he also told the magazine at the time. In her interview with Oprah, Rihanna confirmed that the rumors of her and Chris’ recent reunion in St. He’s not trying to step on toes but is truly happy for her and just wanted to send his best.” “Posting it on his story is his way of reaching out but still being respectful,” the insider shared. I have to maintain that and suppress it and interpret it and understand it and understand that it’s not going to go away. The now-deleted story made fans speculate what the relationship between Rihanna and Chris is now.
Rihanna is pregnant with her second baby with boyfriend A$AP Rocky and she iconically revealed her baby bump during her Super Bowl halftime performance ...
So, is Rihanna expecting another baby boy or a baby girl? [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/rihanna-pregnant-rep-confirms-super-bowl-halftime-show-1235323383/) following the show. Rihanna is pregnant with her second baby with boyfriend A$AP Rocky and she iconically revealed her baby bump during her Super Bowl halftime performance - but is she having a baby boy or girl and when is her due date?
After Rihanna announced her pregnancy at the 2023 Super Bowl, one backup dancer from her halftime performance spilled details on how the singer kept the ...
And when she and A$AP, 34, attended the [2023 Golden Globes](https://eonline.com/news/golden_globes) in Los Angeles' Beverly Hilton Hotel in January, the Grammy winner [wore a black velvet Schiaparelli gown with ruching on the bodice](https://www.eonline.com/news/1357237/youll-be-lifted-up-by-rihannas-2023-golden-globes-look) to mask her budding bump. "It feels like it could have only been now," she told Apple Music in a recent interview. 12, but she managed to [leave dancers all around her](https://www.eonline.com/news/1364689/rihanna-can-take-a-bow-after-her-epic-super-bowl-halftime-show) in awe, too. 9 press conference](https://www.eonline.com/videos/351616/rihanna-teases-big-super-bowl-lvii-halftime-show) in an oversized leather jacket atop of a black-and-white dress. Three days before she took the stage at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Rihanna Why are you judging her?'" the 20-year-old recalled.
Rihanna has already been praised for redefining maternity fashion, having rocked crop tops, low-rise pants and lingerie during her first pregnancy last year ...
"It's very easy for us to celebrate these moments when we have a 'win' for being able to see pregnancy in public," Fisher says. "That's what I would like to see people really get a handle on," she says. [nearly three times higher](https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/us-maternal-mortality-crisis-continues-worsen-international-comparison) than the rate for white women. [broke the internet](#Beyoncé) in 2017 with her Instagram pregnancy announcement — and Rihanna broke her news with a photoshoot in [Jan. Black women have been at the forefront of style and innovation for a long time, she adds. "And so I want folks to get that from what Rihanna has done: Just be yourself. — which spends more money per capita on healthcare than any developed country in the world but has worse maternal and infant health outcomes. It helped change cultural perceptions around pregnancy, with Moore reflecting decades later on the impact it had on "on our permission to embrace ourselves in a pregnant state." "But I'm going to also stan the girls ... "And she was asked then, 'Are you going to hurt the baby? "And then as we go into the 20th century, it becomes even more commercialized," she adds. Clothes were made to be adaptable, with waistlines and other elements that could be added or removed as women's sizes changed.
See photos of some of the biggest performances by pregnant musicians.
Photo Credit : Kevin Mazur/WireImage Photo Credit : Kristian Dowling/GI Photo Credit : Christopher Polk/GI for dcp Photo Credit : Johnny Nunez/GI for BET Photo Credit : Chelsea Lauren/GI for Hyundai Photo Credit : Christopher Polk/GI for NARAS
Fans' demands that she get back to work show us how our narratives around motherhood and work have to change.
As [Vox’s Alex Abad-Santos put it](https://www.vox.com/culture/23597204/rihanna-super-bowl-halftime-show-pregnant), “She makes stardom look so easy and left us, as always, wanting a little bit more.” Her apparent calm was especially impressive given that balancing the competing demands of motherhood and global celebrity — complete with a fan base demanding a new album — can’t be easy at all. While there is still no paid parental leave in America and there is still pregnancy discrimination, there’s also been more of a push by feminists and other activists in recent years for employers to address the fact that caring for children takes time and energy, and that expecting parents to [work as though they don’t have families](https://www.mother.ly/career-money/work-and-motherhood/why-are-women-expected-to-work-like-they-dont-have-children-and-mother-like-they-dont-work/) — expecting anyone, really, to work as if they have no life — is unsustainable. Rihanna’s obvious pride in her own path could help normalize taking time to be with your family, and having fun and being sexy and chilling out, even if you also have a kid. Rihanna did not announce a new album on Sunday — to be fair, she didn’t even announce her pregnancy, leaving that to her mouthpiece. [from Eva Mendes to Adele](https://time.com/2973433/ryan-gosling-eva-mendes-celebrity-pregnancy/) have hidden their pregnancies, whether from a desire for privacy, a fear they won’t be marketable if they’re seen as moms, vestigial attitudes that [pregnancy is gross or shameful](https://time.com/6046897/i-love-lucy-little-ricky/), or all of the above. Writers like [Angela Garbes](https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2022/6/9/23159624/kids-covid-pandemic-formula-anxiety-2022) and [Jessica Grose](https://www.nytimes.com/by/jessica-grose) have documented the ways American parents struggle to care for their kids while holding down a job, and attempted to chart a more communal, less girl bossy, way forward. [walking down a Harlem street](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/style/rihanna-pregnancy-photo.html). Sheryl Sandberg’s maxims, like [“don’t leave till you leave,”](https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/12/6/18128838/michelle-obama-lean-in-sheryl-sandberg) sent the message that women could power through the motherhood stigma with their own drive and ambition. [“motherhood penalty.”](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/15/business/pregnancy-discrimination.html) In the Lean In era of the aughts and 2010s, women were encouraged to get around this discrimination by showing that they did not need time to care for their families. Or, especially if they work in low-wage jobs, their bosses might just [fire them](https://worklifelaw.org/publications/PoorPregnantAndFired.pdf) as soon as they announce they’re expecting a child. [called into question](https://www.vox.com/recode/22776112/quit-jobs-great-resignation-workers-union) the American obsession with [work and productivity](https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/7/7/23186233/managers-great-resignation-quit-job), and led to renewed calls for [affordable child care](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/09/business/child-care-infrastructure-biden.html) and [parental leave](https://thehill.com/finance/3851945-biden-junk-fees-billionaire-tax-paid-leave/). By enjoying both family and work on her own terms, and her own timetable, Rihanna has just shown us a different way is possible — even if it’s not attainable for ordinary people just yet.
During the Super Bowl Halftime show, Rihanna represented Black pregnant people and women, who are devalued in America's healthcare system.
These images of pregnant Black women finding their power and their support on some of the largest global stages are a powerful contrast—and protest. [Support ](https://secure.everyaction.com/Ml3uLQWZzkqEQdVqAXVh6A2) [Ms](https://secure.everyaction.com/Ml3uLQWZzkqEQdVqAXVh6A2) [. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. [halftime show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIg9kTGBVI), Rihanna is surrounded by a large collective of background dancers—highly feminine for the former star, while androgynous in white puffers for the latter star—a reminder that their star personas are powerfully protected by a supportive community, choreographically, socially, culturally and politically. These Black performers creatively illuminated sex-positive energy within a stage surrounded by football violence, “purity” aspirations for Americana culture, and a muted diversity that can only welcome Black entertainment without its full power unleashing before millions of watchers. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision last year) now experiencing a 900 percent increase in [congenital syphilis](https://www.livescience.com/900-increase-in-babies-born-with-syphilis-in-mississippi-may-be-part-of-nationwide-trend) among newborns (many of whom are born to Black women). [Fenty Beauty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_FoFRnZPh4) that covered the entire range of women’s complexions, a vision that decidedly came from the radical interventions by a woman of color. Just like her bare belly exposed underneath a winter coat during her first pregnancy, Rihanna deliberately announces her expectancy and does so through the transparent yet covered red lining that outlines the curves of her body. During her 13-minute halftime show, Rihanna made sure to pause to put on some of this foundation, a proud self-promotion of her beauty enterprise, but more importantly, she positioned her body to evoke both superstar status and regular womanhood. After a seven-year hiatus from music, and having given birth to a son back in May, the audience did a double-take: Is Rihanna pregnant … The young girl struts on a neighborhood road while she is approvingly greeted by her community and joined by some other young girls—all neatly put together in fabulously braided hairstyles. There was a humorous assemblage of various NFL fans across races and genders attempting to sing her ballad “