Whether you deliver a baby via natural birth or C-section, your body goes through a hell of a lot and we need to start recognising that.
As part of a series called The Honest Body Project, photographer Natalie McCain captured an unnamed mother and her C-section scars, in hopes of touching "those who struggle after giving birth via C-section."
The mother, who was diagnosed with endometriosis when she was 24, told McCain that it took four years for her and her husband to conceive their first daughter, who she gave birth to via C-section.
"I hear a lot of talk from other moms about wishing our bodies didn’t fail," she said. "How a 'traditional' birth would have been better, and wondering how we wound up here. I can tell you I didn’t plan on a C-section. I didn’t want a C-section…but my body didn’t fail."
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McCain's photos capture the mum's strength and her faith in her body as part of the Honest Body Project, which McCain created to "help women everywhere learn to love their bodies and themselves."
McCain says she first photographed the woman in 2015, and visited her again after her third C-section, shooting the above photos the night before her staples were removed.
Her story is a reminder of just how powerful our bodies can be, as well as a reminder that C-section births aren't the "easy way out" — despite what some may believe.
"This body that has seen surgeries, tumours, three C-sections and incredible loss didn’t fail me one bit," the mum said. "My baby is alive, I’m alive, and no scar or procedure will take that away from me."