“3 C-section Deliveries Doesn’t Mean my Body Failed Me”, Says Mum From The Honest Body Project
Many women who have an unplanned c-section delivery can often look at their body as a failure.
Having a c-section is often seen as the ‘easy way’ to birth a baby or the only option when a woman’s body has ‘failed her’.
Both of these thoughts are negative and wrong.
Yet it’s just one of the thoughts women experience when their body hasn’t performed how they had hoped.
Photographer Natalie McCain has shared a series of photos as part of her ‘Honest Body Project’ to encourage women and mums of all shapes and sizes to be proud of their body.
One story that get’s mentioned is Jacqueline’s.
Jacqueline, who is a mum-of-three, gave birth via c-section for all her deliveries. The mum has also struggled with aggressive endometriosis and has had many surgeries.
Image via The Honest Body Project
But Jacqueline’s perspective on c-sections was what made her stand out from the many messages Natalie had received from women, sharing their struggles with their c-section experience.
Natalie told the Huffpost, “I have received so many messages from women about their C-section scars and how they struggle with their experience.”
“I loved this mum’s perspective on her C-section scar, and I wanted her message to help reach others who could find comfort in it.”
Jacqueline has three babies under the age of 2. She has a 2 year old, a 1 year old and 1 week old.
Image via The Honest Body Project
She told Natalie how she sees her body differently to other mums who believe their body has failed them as they had to have a c-section.
Jacqueline sees her scars as beautiful reminders that her body kept her alive and carried her children.
Natalie hopes Jacqueline’s story will encourage other women by telling them their bodies did not fail them.
Jacqueline explains,
“It took four years to get our oldest daughter, and after five days in labor we wound up with a C section. I hear a lot of talk from other moms about wishing our bodies didn’t fail. How a ‘traditional’ birth would have been better, and wondering how we wound up here. I can tell you I didn’t plan on a C-section. I didn’t want a C-section… but my body didn’t fail.”
“This body that has seen surgeries, tumors, three C-sections, and incredible loss didn’t fail me one bit. My baby is alive, I’m alive, and no scar or procedure will take that away from me. The scar that almost determined my future, dead ends at the scar that gave me my future.”
Jacqueline’s story is just one of many Natalie has captured behind the lense. Her photos have been collated into her newly released book, “The Honest Body Project: Real Stories and Untouched Portraits of Women and Motherhood”.
The book shares pictures and honest submissions from women around the world, to help women see the beauty of themselves, inside and out. The photos are raw and untouched, but offer a beautiful collage of women showing off their natural shapes and ‘imperfections’ to encourage others to embrace the body they’ve been given.
The book offers an honest picture of motherhood and what it means to be a woman. The topics covered are varied from body image issues, breast cancer, depression (postpartum and otherwise), anxiety, bottle feeding versus breast feeding, aging, and more.
New perspective can be a beautiful thing when we battle thoughts about our own bodies and the book offers women an opportunity to see the beauty in others.
“The Honest Body Project: Real Stories and Untouched Portraits of Women and Motherhood” is available at most leading book stores. You can purchase a copy here.
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