Ashley Graham Proudly Embraces Her Stretch Marks and Postpartum Body

Pregnancy can bring a lot of changes to one’s body, and they aren’t all easy to accept. Now, more and more women are making it a point to embrace their postpartum body—including Ashley Graham. The queen of body positivity has used her voice and platform to promote women’s health, wellness and body image throughout her pregnancy. Now, as a new mom, she’s at it yet again.

The model, in an image posted to Instagram on Monday, proudly showed off her stretch marks, writing in the caption, “Same me. Few new stories.” Of course, Graham has been open and honest about the changes pregnancy brought to her body since she first announced she was expecting. She not only opened up about gaining 50 lbs during pregnancy and why she was okay with it, but she also dedicated her latest swimwear collection to honoring pregnant bodies.

Graham has a refreshing take on motherhood that many people are excited about. “I love this. So many years I was ashamed of my stretch marks and ‘baby pouch belly’ but the older I get and the more society breaks the illusions of what a women is beautiful. I love my body. I created life. I have war wounds. And that is what makes me who I am today. Kudos to you too, Welcome to motherhood and congratulations,” one woman wrote on her post, while another commented, “This is beautiful! You have made me (and thousands of other women) feel more confident about our postpartum bodies with this post!”

Graham welcomed her son, Isaac Menelik Giovanni Ervin, with husband Justin Ervin on January 18. In the past month as a mom, she’s already used her platform to banish stigma around support postpartum recovery—and we can’t wait to see how she’ll lift up women and moms everywhere, next.

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