Is this the most annoying post-baby body selfie EVER?

UPDATE: Caroline Berg Eriksen – the new mum who caused a social media furore when she posted this photo four days after giving birth – has told Good Morning America that she didn’t mean to upset mothers.

“I think that all women should be proud of themselves, regardless of how they look after labour,”she said. “During the pregnancy people kept telling me that my body would never would be the same. I wanted to tell everybody that that is not entirely true. Right after birth, like three minutes after, I felt like myself again.”

Is that how you remember it? It’s not quite my recollection of the post-birth experience …

Obviously Caroline is not only genetically blessed, but also magically avoided fluid retention and complete exhaustion (I’d also like to know where she’s hiding her post-birth maxi-pad).

How is she even upright?

The Norwegian mum is a footballer’s wife. She probably posted the pic to draw attention to her fitness blog Fotballfrue. It appeared on Instagram and has been slammed world-wide for the pressure it will place on new mums. The photo was accompanied with the caption, “I feel so empty, and still not … 4 days after birth.”

When I first saw this photo I closed the article straight away. I’m so sick of seeing images like this. Don’t accuse me of being jealous. I’m not. Of course I looked NOTHING like this four days let alone four weeks, even four months after giving birth, but even that’s not the reason I am annoyed.

I am annoyed because by posting this boastful post-baby body selfie she has made hundreds of thousands of women fell like utter crap during a time when they should feel accepted and supported. I am anti anything that makes new mums feel inadequate.

Caroline has even found an unlikely detractor in “What’s Your Excuse?” fit mum Maria Kang, who posted her own, more typical postpartum pic on Facebook.

She wrote: "This woman just gave birth 4 days before taking this selfie. WOW. Talk about pressure!  To give mothers more perspective, here's how my body looked one week post-pregnancy. Don't be hard on yourself. Life changes when you have a child making prioritizing your fitness more difficult. "

I think getting back into shape shouldn't be the priority after child birth. I have a friend who just days before giving birth kept telling me she wanted to be back in her pre-pregnancy jeans two weeks after giving birth. I know people who have suffered several miscarriages and are ordered not to exercise during pregnancy. I known women who are robbed of the pleasure of new motherhood by the images of what a new mum should look like via the media and social media.

Eriksen has hit back at critics on her Facebook page, saying, "I let out the picture because I'm proud of myself and my body for something as tough as a pregnancy/birth, and I think all mothers, regardless of the body shall be."

I'm not buying this at all. I think that as a model and fitness blogger she has put herself in a position where here entire life revolves around how she looks. Imagine the pressure she was under during her pregnancy and after it. I feel sorry for her.

But I also wish she'd never posted this photo.

I know women who have pushed themselves to the brink of a nervous breakdown with body hatred, all while trying to figure out to be a new mum. I know women who would look at this photo and feel like failures.

I would have much preferred to see a photo of her cuddling her newborn child but strangely there's not one such picture on her Instagram account. I only found one photo of her holding her baby on her Facebook page.

Look at how she is smiling down at her little girl. That's what's beautiful about this photo. The bond, the joy of new motherhood.

So stay in your pjs and enjoy baby snuggles. You'll never get this time back so don't waste it worrying about how you look or coordinating outfits or anything.

What advice do you have for women struggling with post-baby body acceptance?