The Beautiful Body Project: Celebrating the Beauty of Motherhood

This is for all the moms out there!

How anxious were you when you were expecting your little one?  How would pregnancy change my body? How much weight would I gain? Would I be able to lose it? What if I need a c-section? Will I be one of the lucky ones who would just bounce back? Or will my former body be lost to me forever? Didn’t these questions and numerous others haunt you day and night?

As a first time mom I think the stretch marks just drive you and your doctor nuts. The second time around you don’t mind the stretch marks as the damage is already done but the flabby tummy and losing it all, all over again sure can drive you crazy. For me the weight gain or loss was never about people but just feeling good about myself. A good and fit body sure raises your self esteem but sometimes you can never go back to those skinny jeans and crop tops flaunting that mid riff like you did in college. It takes a lot of courage to wake up every morning and see yourself in front of the mirror and see how time has left so many scars on your body. When you see celebs all brushed up flaunting flat abs(remember Shilpa Shetty’s First mag cover after delivery) you sure feel low especially when you struggle to find time to hit the gym or even a 10 minute walk sometimes or people around you fail to understand why a mom also needs to exercise!

Well, photographer and mom Jade Beall felt the same way until she posted semi nude self potraits of her postpartum body on various online sites. The overwhelming response that she received made her realise that there were many many more mothers who were also willing to overcome their insecurity and get their nude pictures taken. This main concept gave birth to The Beautiful Body Project.

The project is summed up on the site as a “movement of women coming together to tell their stories and celebrate their ever-changing bodies so that future generations of women can live free from self-suffering.â€_x009d_ Beall is compiling the images of the women she photographs and their thoughts on beauty as relating to motherhood into a book. Some of the stories are uplifting, others are heartbreaking but all are unique to the experience of being a mother. Beall shoots the women for free and hopes to fund the project and book with the help of the regular Jane as opposed to corporate backing. Beall — who describes her photography as “medicinal” — intends her book as balm not only for the women who volunteer to be photographed, but also the society whose expectations she’s hoping to heal.

Check out the photoshoots of different mothers and their unique stories on The Beautiful Body Project to get inspired and love the beautiful skin you are in today.

So moms, would you have the guts and be willing to shed all insecurities and appreciate the beauty of motherhood or would you still choose to consider yourselves as ‘ugly’?

Sources: A Beautiful Body Project, Jade Beall, The Huffington Post