A mum has written an empowering message to explain why she chose to embrace her “saggy belly skin” to go swimming with her kids.
The mum, who shares snippets of family life on her Instagram page ‘Chillin’ With Children’, reflected on her body after having three babies.
“We went swimming for the first time yesterday and when I put on my suit to make sure it fits, I realised I had forgotten about my really bad saggy belly skin and crazy amounts of stretch marks,” she wrote on Friday 9 June.
The mum shared a photo against a bright yellow background of herself in a blue bikini, alongside her three children.
She continued: “I was faced with a decision to start the summer self conscious or embrace the fact I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to create and carry life three separate times.
“Not all women’s bellies get jacked like mine and it does make me sad (yes my tummy gets a lot of looks). But it is what it is.
“I can be embarrassed and have a messed up tummy or accept it and have a messed up tummy. The outcome is my choice.”
The mum said she realises there are hundreds of women who would give up their “perfect stomachs” in return for having three children without thinking twice about it.
“So I won’t think twice about it either,” she ended the message.
Her words resonated with other mums’ feelings about their post-baby bodies.
“Truthful and beautiful,” one wrote. “I, too, have struggled to embrace the belly and probably will struggle again after my next baby is born. This helps.”
Another commented: “You look beautiful. Thank you for embracing your body and setting a great example for all of us.”