This Brave Mom Shows Off Her Belly Before and After a C-Section

Mel Watts last June 1, just four days before she gave birth IMAGE @themodernmumma via Instagram To anyone who has always thought that women who gave birth via cesarean had it "easy," we've always said that's unfair. No one wants to take on new-mom duties while nursing a delicate wound. But perhaps it's better to hear it from this mom blogger who had an honest and raw post about her body after a C-section.

We've featured mom blogger Mel Watts from New South Wales in Australia before. She had posted about how her son who heard her and her husband having sex. She got bashed for her honest account about sex after kids that prompted to make another follow-up post about getting bullied. One of the lines we never forgot: "I think the actual problem isn’t our children. It’s the parents." (Read the rest of the story here.)

Now, Mel made the headlines once again for showing her belly four days after having a C-section. Ready to see it?

View this post on Instagram

📸 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.

A post shared by m e l w a t t s (@melwatts) on Jun 9, 2017 at 3:12am PDT

The photo above above was her baby belly at 30 weeks, and the one at the bottom was her belly after childbirth (she gave birth to her fourth child last June 5). "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 nine months and sheltered him, protected him and prepared him for the day he was born," she wrote as a caption for the post.

Mel admitted that she had doubted her body before, but she also realized that her body had done everything it should. "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?!" she wrote. "We should just do what we feel works for us. Nobody has the same body, and everybody has their own body. Enjoy it," Mel said. 

Her post had several comments from fellow moms who commended her honesty. "I love this. I have the same belly. Had my third C-section two weeks ago. Having an ideal body means my kids would not be here. No shame. I'm a mom," user @thinkblacknotpink wrote.

"Thank you for sharing this," wrote user @sophiewright1416. "I had two sections, and this is what mine looked like, I still have overhang now which is depressing. But hey ho, I'm a mumma to two beautiful sons, and they are so worth it."

User @ellenlinnealiiv wished all moms would post their real post-baby bodies. "I wish this would be the first belly pic that new mothers show off. Instead, they work out as lunatics for months and then posts a picture where the belly looks 'just like before birth.' If you have carried a baby it's normal that it doesn’t look like before, wake up ladies!" she said. 

Still, some netizens criticized her post, saying it's not real, it's unflattering, and some even described her photo as revolting. But Mel is okay with it and clarified that she didn't claim her post to be more "real" than others, even though many could relate to her post. 

View this post on Instagram

Hey guys! Me again. So after yesterday's post I've had a few comments, shares etc which have been great . As reaching so many people and connecting with them is important to me, hence why I started to a blog - so someone had someone to relate to. It's been a whirlwind few days since the birth of our Sonny and I took a few moments last night to write down my feelings towards my post Caesarean section at Day 4. The photo was unflattering, with a dressing intact. If you zoomed you may of seen some regrow then and the little dignity I had left. Whatever floats your boat. As the shares reached new people the comments grew wider and further. Some referring to it as a real post baby body, some referring to it as revolting. Which is totally okay. However, I think you should be aware that I didn't use the word "real" in any of my post. I think all women's bodies are real. Some work hard for theirs and some *cough cough* don't 🙋🏻 Over time I've watched women be put down and slammed mostly by other women for how someone looks. Either being too fit, too fat, too sluggish and too pretty. I watched @reviejane get slashed for how she looked pregnant, I read @laurenbrant get trampled on for how she looked after her birth. The difference between us, both of these women work hard for how they look. I've watched Revie going to the gym whilst I'm on a 6 pack of doughnuts. Just because we all look different doesn't mean none of us aren't real or unrealistic. Some women bounce back, some don't. Some women train hard, some don't. And just because you feel like you don't fit in one of these categories doesn't make you any less real than myself, Lauren or Revie. We're all real. We're all women who have birthed little humans and we're all just trying to do the best we can. Just like the other millions of women in the world. Instead of fighting each other and writing nasty things about people we don't know how about we just embrace each other? There is so much bad in this world at the moment that as soon as we stop thinking it's acceptable behaviour to bring other women down it's never going to get better. #bethechange

A post shared by m e l w a t t s (@melwatts) on Jun 10, 2017 at 3:29am PDT

"Just because we all look different doesn't mean none of us aren't real or unrealistic. Some women bounce back; some don't. Some women train hard; some don't. And just because you feel like you don't fit in one of these categories doesn't make you any less real," Mell wrote in the caption of another post featuring another look at her C-section scar. She suggested that instead of fighting each other and bringing other women down, all moms should embrace each other.

We totally agree. There is no valid reason to shame another mom. There's nothing to gain in judging other women. We all need the support we can get. 

You can follow Mel via her website or on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

[h/t: The Huffington Post]