Mum Shares a Raw C-Section Photo to Empower Mums About Their Bodies
The media can drive feelings of body dissatisfaction with new mums when there’s story on a celebrity whose body has ‘bounced back’ within six weeks of birth.
It’s disheartening and precarious to publish such stories, because the reality is, most mums don’t bounce back to their ‘pre-baby’ body many months or years after giving birth. I’m still nowhere back to my pre-baby body, and to be honest, I’m in no rush to get there.
So it’s refreshing when we see bloggers be real about their own bodies when it comes to post-pregnancy. And one mum who hasn’t shied away from sharing her post-baby body on Instagram is Mel Watts from The Modern Mumma.
Mel gave birth to her fourth child on June 5 and four days ago posted two photos of her belly on Instagram. The first photo was when she was 30 weeks pregnant and the other a few days after her caesarean section.
She wrote this caption with her photo.
Top photo 30 weeks pregnant Bottom photo 4 days post Caesarean section. Wow. Honestly it’s no castle or bloody piece of art. Sure it’s filled with stretch marks and dimples. But this body, this one the one I own gave me another life. Another small human to love and to hold. It held onto him for 9 months and sheltered him, protected him and prepared him for the day he was born. So many times I’ve doubted my body, so many times I’ve pinched and pulled at sections that I didn’t like. In reality this body has done everything I’d ever want it to do. Sure it’s not magazine or swimsuit worthy to some. But to me and my husband, it’s the place that grew our babies. It’s the place that everything we love most started. And that’s all that counts right?! We feel as though we need to follow society’s stigma on what we should look like when in fact we should just do what we feel works for us. No body has the same body And every body has their own body. Enjoy it.
The post has received over 6000 likes and many supportive comments from her community, who have been positive about the photo.
Mel reportedly told the Huffington Post, “People have been very positive about the post,” she said.
“I shared my thoughts on what I was feeling because I felt as though sometimes we need reminding that even if we don’t feel like we fit a certain category, we all matter, and all our bodies are amazing.”
It is Mel’s hope that her words and photos can encourage and empower other mums to love their bodies.
Our bodies are amazing from fighting diseases, giving birth and, well keeping us living this precious life that we can sometimes take for granted.
Thank you Mel for sharing a personal post with us and reminding us what matters most. May you enjoy those newborn snuggles with your gorgeous baby boy. x
