Mom's Honest Post C-Section Pics Remind Us To Be Thankful For Our Incredible Bodies

Mom gets real about her body after baby

We would venture to guess most women have struggled with body image at some point in their lives. It seems the focus on our bodies is never more present than when we get pregnant and have children. Did we gain too much weight, will our bodies ever look the way they did before we had kids, and for those of us who have had a C-section, will we ever love our stomachs again (assuming we did before we had kids)? One mom decided it’s about time we look at our bodies and instead of thinking of all the things we’d love to change; we should be embracing them exactly as they are.

Mel Watts of The Modern Mumma decided to celebrate her post-pregnancy body in a big way – by sharing images of her body at 30 weeks pregnant then again four days post C-section. And she’s calling on other moms to embrace their post-pregnancy bodies as well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVHXLI1DFsG/?taken-by=themodernmumma

On her Instagram page, Watts shared the pictures but it’s her words that are capturing the hearts of mothers everywhere. “Honestly it’s no castle or bloody piece of art,” Watts starts. “But this body, this one the one I own gave me another life. Another small human to love and to hold.”

Watts, who’d just given birth to her fourth child, admits it’s not always easy to love ourselves. “So many times I’ve doubted my body, so many times I’ve pinched and pulled at sections that I didn’t like,” she wrote, then admits, “In reality this body has done everything I’d ever want it to do.”

Those are the words that are her most profound. Complaining about our bodies is a luxury that not every woman has been given. There are mothers who have battled severe illness during pregnancy, those who lost their child shortly after birth and still others that tried, and failed, to carry a baby of their own. Wouldn’t they love the extravagance of complaining about a few pounds or a scar? It’s not to say our feelings aren’t valid, hell I’ve had two C-sections and loathed my body afterwards, but sometimes a little perspective goes a long way.

Watts goes on to say for her and her husband, “(her body) is the place that grew our babies. It’s the place that everything we love most started. And that’s all that counts right?!”

Rather than criticize our bodies, how novel and liberating would it be to just be thankful for all they have given us?

“Every body has their own body. Enjoy it.”