Mother shares powerful image of her c-section scar and stretch marks

A new mother went viral after she shared a photo of her C-section scar and stretchmarks on Instagram.

Emily Houlston, 19, from Telford, Shropshire, gave birth to twin boys Arthur and Finley in November.

The mother-of-two posted a snap of her sons lying alongside her scarred stomach in a bid to inspire other mothers to embrace their post-baby bodies, reminding them that it ‘does not define them’.     

The candid post has been ‘liked’ more than 3,000 times and prompted dozens of responses from sympathetic parents.   

Emily Houlston, 19, from Telford, gave birth to twin boys Arthur and Finley in November, and shared this picture of her sons next to her stretchmarks and C-section scar

The mother-of-two posted the snap alongside a caption encouraging other mothers to embrace their post-baby bodies, reminding them that it ‘does not define them’

She shared the picture with the caption: ‘Okay, this is quite a personal post but I am now 4 months postpartum and beginning to embrace what my body has become, I’ve housed two beautiful babies for 36 weeks and breastfed for 5 weeks. 

‘My pregnancy wasn’t exactly an easy ride these boys wanted to come out early and I was hospitalised a few times because of dehydration and early contractions.

‘Your stretch marks DO NOT define you, your scar DOES NOT define you, your flab DOES NOT define you. 

Emily, pictured with her sons, was praised by followers over her candid take on motherhood 

Uploading the picture of her stomach to her account, Emily explained that she had learned to embrace her body and what it represented (pictured this month with partner Thomas Marsen)

‘Wow what an amazing post’: The honest take on early motherhood was met with messages of support from some of her 3,000 followers

‘You are incredible, you are a mother and you are the light of your babies eyes. I wanted to share this to show the reality of our bodies and that it’s okay not to be perfect because in their eyes you are exactly that.’

The honest take on early motherhood was met with messages of support from some of her 3,000 followers. 

One wrote: ‘Wow what an amazing post. You look amazing and your little babies are gorgeous. I’ve been having some mixed feelings towards my postpartum body, but you are right. And I hope I can take your positivity and confidence.’

Another added: ‘What a beautiful post. More women should be like you. I think on social media we have a tendency to post what we think people expect and want to see. Instead of how it really is. 

Emily kept followers updated with honest posts about her pregnancy, pictured last November 

‘And it doesn’t help, because we look at this portrayal and think that we are the odd ones out when we hate pregnancy, feel like a stranger in own bodies after carrying and birthing our babies, cry over breast feeding and feel guilt over not loving every second or feeling #blessed all the time.’

Explaining the inspiration behind the post, Emily revealed she was inspired to share the picture after initially struggling to come to terms with her body.

Speaking to the Huffington Post, she said: ‘It got me in a bad place getting myself down about it so I wanted to release a picture facing the reality of carrying babies and how much of an incredible journey we go through’. 

‘I wanted to urge women not to feel the need to ‘bounce back’ and to accept how they are – scars, stretch marks and all.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk