This Pregnant Pole Dancer Is Un-Freaking-Believable

A pregnant pole dancer shared her amazing maternity photos with the world

An Australian mom-to-be was struggling with feeling confident during her pregnancy, so she did the thing that always makes her feel sexy – pole dancing. Before Jill MacLean became the pregnant pole dancer with amazing maternity photos, she was just known as “Cleo the Hurricane.”

MacLean is a professional pole dancer who has won several awards and sold pole dancing fitness DVDs across the world. While the 36-year-old has loved being pregnant, she said she’s never felt so unsexy. “I have put on just under 50lb, and when I stand naked and look in the mirror, I love what I see (my baby belly) however it is in a completely different light to what I’m used to,” she wrote on her blog.

And pregnant or not, many women can relate to the feelings that arrive with extra weight gain. Pole dancing is not just a way to get your groove back, but also a great form of cardio that builds greater balance and kinesthetic awareness, Lifehack wrote.

So MacLean grabbed her sky-high stilettos and sexy outfits and headed to the pole for some dancing and spectacular photos, Cosmopolitan reported. Seriously, how does she dance in those shoes? I can barely walk in kitten heels. “I have been craving and loving that feeling of putting on my heels, a sexy song and pole dancing… just to feel sexy again,” she says.

Despite MacLean’s popular fan base, which includes customers worldwide and more than 29,000 followers on Instagram alone, the haters came out on social media to try to ruin the joy pole dancing has brought her. “It is very apparent that some people think that a pregnant woman on a pole is disrespectful to their body and to their baby,” she said. She screenshot the worst of it from her Facebook page and included the comments in her blog.

“How is your man even okay with you stripping and dancing more than half naked infront of other creepy men?? I don’t get it. Get some respect lady!”

“Very strange performance for a pregnant lady!”

“I said being half naked pregnant, in stripper shoe, posing against a pole isn’t inspiring or sexy in anyway. You are pregnant show some respect for your body!”

It’s 2016. Can we please cut the shit with shaming women (especially moms) for being proud of their bodies, however they choose to present them? If a pregnant woman wants to pole dance and walk around in teeny underwear and high heels, good for her. It’s not up to anyone else to decide what is and isn’t respectful.

Luckily, MacLean seems to ignore her detractors and has never danced for anyone but herself, sharing the reasons why she loves the athletic pole work. “Pole Dancing has brought to me so much … freedom, strength in my body and mind, the confidence, feeling feminine, feeling sexy and, of course, feeling empowered,” she said. “Yes, what I do is still considered ‘taboo’ to some people who don’t know any better, but to me, it is strength and my passion and that is all that matters.”

Keep on dancing, Cleo, and we’ll keep on cheering from the sidelines.