Mum shares the 'raw truth' of swelling feet during pregnancy with shocking photo

A personal trainer and mum-of-two recently shared a photo that shows the ways the human body reacts to pregnancy.

Many women look forward to glowing skin and radiant hair during the nine months of pregnancy, with many either ignoring or naïve to the additional and less glamourous symptoms, such as heartburn and - in this instance - water retention and swollen feet.

Chontel took to Instagram to share this side-by-side photo of swollen feet, comparing her first pregnancy to second pregnancy and explaining how during her first pregnancy her feet retained lots of fluid.

[instagram]

foot phobias all around the world with this post 😂' the caption read. 'But this is the raw truth on how bad my fluid got towards the end of my first pregnancy.'

'Second time round I have done nothing different but have absolutely no fluid retention 🙌🏾 #eatyourheartout #footmodel #footfetishnation #pregnant #fluidretention'.

Talking to Metro Chontel said that she thinks the only possible reason for the lack of welling was she did pilates during this pregnancy - but she notes that this 'didn't have anything to do with supporting fluid retention.'

Either way, the post certainly resonated with a lot of her 603k followers, with over 14k likes and 629 comments.

One didn't hold back, commenting: 'Omg looks like an elephant's leg. Every pregnancy is a very new jurney ❤' while another added: 'HOLY Crap!!! HUGE difference! 😳 I never had any water retention with any of my 3 pregnancies thank god! Looks so uncomfortable!'

Others thought many took the fluid retention as a sign of the gender: 'I think its a girl :)' speculated one, followed by another who posted: 'Woahhh! maybe a girl this time? Hihi'

However these comments were unfounded, as Chontel went on to give birth to a healthy baby boy, named Swayde Noel.

'... Excited to introduce our beautiful baby boy 💙Swayde Noel Duncan💙 Weighing 8 pounds 7.5 ounces (3.8kg), born Wed 20/09/17 at 08:19am,' she wrote to confirm the birth of her new arrival.

'Baby is very healthy & I am recovering from my cesarean really well. Jeremiah loves his baby brother Swayde, meeting him yesterday for the very first time before we shared his arrival to our friends & family. #mumoftwo #swayde #newborn'.

Did you suffer swollen feet in pregnancy? Let us know in the comments box below.