Rihanna reflects on her first pregnancy with a throwback maternity shoot

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Rihanna has your 2023 beachside maternity photoshoot inspo.  

The singer and mom gave fans a belated look at a glamorous oceanfront maternity shoot taken during her 2022 pregnancy with Baby RZA in a series of photos posted on Thursday. In the throwback photos, taken sometime during the third trimester of her pregnancy last spring, a beachy and scantily clad Rihanna bares more than her baby bump.

“Here’s a little series I call ‘Rub on ya t***ies,’” began the bad gal’s caption of the post, which included sultry shots of the beauty and fashion mogul topless in barely-there string bikini bottoms, gold body chains and bracelets. 

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She continued, “In honor of my first pregnancy, embracing motherhood like a g, and the magic that this body made! Baby RZA… he in there not having a clue how nuts his mama is, or how obsessed he was bout to make me #maternityshoot2022 #tobecontinued.” 

The maternity shoot, which compelled some to dub the star a “Tropical Goddess,” is on brand for Rihanna’s headline-making maternity style, which has to date included mini skirts, crop tops, sheer dresses, and open shirts celebrating her changing shape.

Commenters quickly praised Rihanna for the shoot, including several famous faces. Singer and actress Chloe Bailey said, “I’m obsessed wow 😍 omg 😍.” Model and entrepreneur Lori Harvey said, “Unreal!!! 😍😍😍😍😍,” while actress Rachel True of “Harlem”  just left a series of flame emojis. 

While Rihanna is keeping her 2023 due date a secret, the throwback photos come less than a week after she and A$AP Rocky celebrated Baby RZA’s first birthday. In addition to a party, Rocky confirmed their son’s name in an Instagram post, days after it was leaked by the press that he was named after the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, producer and rapper RZA (given name: Robert Fitzgerald Diggs). 

““WU TANG IZ 4 DA CHUREN 🤲” HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO MY 1st BORN . RZA❤️,” wrote Rocky.  

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This maternity shoot has also arrived in what many believe are the final weeks of Rihanna’s second pregnancy, which she first revealed during her Super Bowl halftime performance in February. While we’ve gotten a few bold baby bump looks, her maternity style with Fenty baby No. 2 is slightly more modest and lowkey (by Riri standards) than her first pregnancy. 

Soon after her Super Bowl reveal in a bright red Loewe flight suit and Alaïa puffer, Rihanna attended the 95th Annual Academy Awards dressed in a custom chocolate brown sheer and leather Alaïa look, doubling down on the sheerness while performing her nominated song “Lift Me Up” in a bedazzled halter top by Maison Margiela. At this year’s Met Gala, Rih arrived fashionably late alongside Rocky, engulfed in a white camelia-inspired cape over a matching spaghetti-strapped gown by Maison Valentino. The bad gal recently gave us more maternity style inspo, appearing at CinemaCon in a full-length denim tunic and hip-high baggy denim boots by Y/Project (as seen below). 

As she indicated in the caption of her maternity shoot post, what this newest chapter of motherhood will bring is “to be continued.”

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