Hostess Zhu Dan (left) and actor Zhang Hanyu Photo: Cai Xianmin/ GT

Zhu Dan, a 39-year-old TV hostess, spoke up on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Wednesday to address comments concerning her "chubby" figure following the birth of her second child.

In Zhu's post, accompanied by six photos of herself in a tight one piece that deliberately showed off her curvaceous body, she wrote that she considers the extra weight she gained during her pregnancy a badge of honor. 

Zhu's action not only inspired her fellow moms to share their own anxieties about their pregnancies, but also encouraged women to love themselves more and have more self-confidence about their bodies. 

Zhu also said that she believes a woman's size, no matter big or small, is no reason to shame women. "Accepting yourself is the most important thing," read Zhu's words of encouragement. 

The mom's post promoting women's confidence post-pregnancy quickly went viral, earning 1 billion views on Sina Weibo. Some netizens pointed out that the way people judge other people's appearances was an overlooked factor that caused them to have feelings of uncertainty about giving birth. 

"It may sound superficial, but I have the fear that my body will become distorted after giving birth and do not believe those people who say 'oh, you can go back to how you were after giving birth.' It's not that I don't want to have children, but I'm not ready to compromise myself for that yet. I just want to be a girl for a few more years regardless of my age," Zhang Xingxing, a 32-year-old woman, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Some netizens commented that body-shaming like Zhu experienced was only one factor behind women's anxieties about having children and why many people are choosing not to have kids even though China recently loosened its family-planning policy to allow couple's to have up to three children. 

"Money, resources, relationships with parents and grandparents, these can all cause stress and stop us from wanting to have more children. If you ask me to prioritize which one causes more stress, I would say I couldn't care less about people's views about my appearance, probably from being a mom for too long," Yao Lin, a 42-year-old mother, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

While Zhu's post inspired people to talk about their stress, others approached the issue with more positivity, saying that "self-love" was the best solution to cope with the judgments of others. 

"I appreciated myself even more after noticing I got wrinkles after having my son. I pamper myself with high-quality beauty products that I used to be reluctant to buy when I was a girl because I know that as a mature and independent woman, I deserve those things… If you don't love yourself, how can you have the power to love your son?" Li Juan, a mom in Chongqing, told the Global Times on Thursday.