Becoming a parent is life-changing, but learning how to care for a baby isn't the only challenge many women face—they also need to learn how to love their bodies. Recently, one woman shared a video online showing her body after three caesareans to promote body positivity.
Using the handle @georgia_coady, Georgia Coady, 26, asked TikTok users if they have "ever wondered what a body looks like after 3 C-sections," then she removes her dressing gown. She can be seen stroking her stomach and zooming the camera in on her scar which is above her bikini line.
"There are so many women out there who are self-conscious of their bodies post-C-section," the mom-of-three told Newsweek. "After thinking, I realized not many women show off their post-C-section bodies, or even know what a C-section scar looks like! It's something that needs to be normalized!"
So far, the video has over 515,000 views and over 47,000 likes. Coady, from the West Midlands, England, told Newsweek that she had two emergency C-sections and an elective one.
"I opted for a caesarean because I found the process from my first birth far too traumatic," she said. According to National Health Service (NHS) statistics, more than half of births in the U.K. in 2022 were spontaneous vaginal births (52 percent), while 19 percent were emergency C-sections. In comparison, the percentage of C-sections in the United States during the same year was much higher at 32.1 percent, according to the CDC.
The Cleveland Clinic website states that the surgical procedure, in which a baby is delivered through incisions in the woman's abdomen and uterus, is usually performed when a vaginal delivery isn't possible or safe, or when the health of you or your baby is at risk.
It is often a last resort and is a procedure that comes with risks, such as infection, fetal injury, and blood loss, to name a few. Mothers are then left with a scar across their stomach and Coady believes social media makes it harder to accept this drastic change.
She told Newsweek that she believes there is a stigma attached to postpartum bodies.
"On social media, we see a lot of 'perfect' or 'ideal' bodies—definitely more so than postpartum bodies," she said, adding, "Seeing these types of bodies more, it's so hard to accept that our postpartum bodies are 'normal.' When in fact, they are! And they're beautiful!
"It's hard to have confidence with your body changing so much after having a baby, but I think if we all looked at each other, we would soon realize that we're all the same, and we are all absolutely perfect the way we are."
Coady has received a sea of support online and many users have not only praised her, but thanked her for her bravery.
"I'm crying rn because I finally found someone so similar to me I'm not alone," said one user and another wrote, "I appreciate seeing this so much!"
"Literally text my partner today saying how awful I feel about my body. I've got 2 under 2 and most days know my body gifted me that luxury, but some days are hard," said a third user.
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