Blogger Mel Watts aka The Modern Mumma went viral in April thanks to her honest post about sex during pregnancy. Now, she’s returned with an empowering take on postpartum body image.
Four days after giving birth to her fourth child on June 5, Watts posted two photos of her belly ― one taken when she was 30 weeks pregnant and one from a few days after her caesarean section delivery.
”Honestly it’s no castle or bloody piece of art,” she wrote. “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.”
Watts said that she’s struggled with body image over the years. “So many times I’ve pinched and pulled at sections that I didn’t like,” she wrote. But, she added, she’s come to embrace her body for the amazing things it’s done for her.
“Sure it’s not magazine or swimsuit worthy to some. But to me and my husband, it’s the place that grew our babies,” she wrote. “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.”
The post received nearly 7,000 likes, and comments section is filled with hundreds of responses. Watts told HuffPost she’s been overwhelmed by the reaction. “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,” the mom explained.
Watts said she hopes her words and photos can empower other moms.
She told HuffPost, “I just want other women to feel as though they’ve done an amazing job and we all have amazing real post baby bodies.”
