Four mums on how they have embraced their post-C-section scars and pouches — like Beyonce
Four mums proudly show their pouches and tell how they really feel about their post-baby bodies
FOR many new mums, getting used to their body can be a challenge.
And it seems even superstar Beyonce, 36, pictured, has seen changes after giving birth to her twins Rumi and Sir by emergency C-section last year.
Speaking to American Vogue, she said: “To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch – and I’m in no rush to get rid of it. It’s real.”
The pouch she refers to – also called “the overhang” – is caused by the two layers of fat that line the tummy and is hard to shift after a C-section.
Here, four mums proudly show their pouches and tell Samantha Brick and Hayley Richardson how they really feel about their post-baby bodies.
‘We still have sex but in a way that makes me less self-conscious’
CLARE Clark, 33, is admin manager for the carpentry company of husband Mickey, 31. They live in Peterborough with sons Toby, seven, Finley, six, and daughter April, 11 months.
Clare says:
“Toby’s birth seven years ago was an emergency. I’d been in labour for 31 hours and suddenly it was necessary to get him out as soon as possible.
“I got pregnant with Finley so quickly after Toby – there’s only 18 months between them – that I was warned not to give birth naturally, as contractions during labour could rupture my scar.
“I’d planned a natural birth for our daughter April. But at 36 weeks it was discovered she wasn’t in the right position, so she was also born by C-section.
“I gained four stone during the first pregnancy and two stone after the second one.
After the second C-section, I got back down to 8st 13lb. Yet I still had a wrinkly, wobbly pouch.
“I went to see my GP and explained how I felt about it. He recommended me for an apronectomy, a tummy tuck.
“Unfortunately it got turned down at the funding stage. We didn’t have £6,000 to go private, so we put the idea to one side, but I do still want to pursue it.
“My pouch is the bane of my life. I only have to look at it and it makes me cry. I am putting funds aside in the hope that one day I can afford the surgery option.
“Today, us women are supposed to be body-confident and love our bodies. I’m showing it off because I want to show other women left with this they aren’t alone.
“It doesn’t stop us from having sex, but we don’t try as many positions as we might have before. We still have sex regularly but in a way that makes me feel less self-conscious. I’d be less inclined to do a striptease at the moment.
“People who know me might be surprised to read this. On the surface I am outgoing and confident but behind closed doors it’s a different story.”
‘I’ve accepted the overhang – my body simply did what it was meant to’
BEAUTY therapist Caroline Lewis Hayes, 39, is mum to Jayden, 11, and Jessica Rose, two. She is married to Chris, 50, a Nato base chef manager, and lives in Gerrards Cross, Bucks.
Caroline says:
“I had an emergency caesarean with Jayden as he was breech – and I was shocked at the “jelly belly” I was left with.
“My second pregnancy followed a similar pattern and I had an emergency C-section three weeks before her due date.
“After the first one it was hard to come to terms with the results – the jelly belly, the scars, the stitches, the physical tightness below. When I was opened up again, medics decided to go along the previous scar. The same incision made the recovery process really tough.
“I joined Weight Watchers and went from 12st down to my normal 10st 10lb. Thirteen weeks after giving birth I joined a ten-week yoga course. But there is only so much diet and exercises I can do.
“A year after giving birth, I realised this is now my body for life. I will never lose the pouch. I can eat healthily and remain active but it’s with me for ever.
“While I did momentarily consider surgery, it isn’t something I would put myself through. I’m 40 next year and I’m determined to embrace the body I have.
“I’ve worn a bikini this summer and I refuse to spend my waking hours worrying about something I can’t fix.
“My husband reminded me my body was going to grow our babies and that it was bound to leave an imprint on how I looked afterwards.
“He has been very accepting about the scar and the overhang. He isn’t hung up about it, which helps me massively.
“Our sex life did get back to normal after the second C-section. Even though my body didn’t feel like “me” at first, it’s important to go for it. Like Beyonce, I’ve accepted my mummy pouch. My body did what it was meant to do.”
‘It’s a battle scar of all that I went through for our beautiful little boy’
WRITER Nilufer Atik, 43, is mum to Milo, 23 months, and lives in South London with her partner Matt Davies, 37, a teacher.
She says:
“I was expecting to have a really relaxing hypnobirth using minimal drugs. The last thing I wanted was a C-section.
“After 54 hours of tortuous labour, going back and forth three times from the hospital, I was in no state to deliver a baby.
“They checked the baby over and he was in distress, with his head stuck in my cervix.
“I remember this horrible feeling of dread coming over me. I felt completely out of control – like I was irrelevant, a piece of meat – as they took me down to theatre for an emergency caesarean.
“The experience left me with post-natal trauma. Now I have a huge scar and whenever people see it, they comment on how untidy it looks. The middle of it is attached to several layers of scar tissue, leaving me with a dip in my stomach.
“I always used to have a flat tummy and now I think, “No matter how fit I get, I will always have this shelf on my stomach”.
“I look toned everywhere else but I can’t pinch the skin beneath my belly. It’s just tight scar tissue that creates an overhang.
“I went to see a post-natal exercise specialist and she showed me how to massage the scar tissue so it could heal better.
“Midwives don’t tell you these things and if I’d known about it from the beginning, maybe the scar wouldn’t look so bad.
“I am proud of it, though. It’s a battle scar of everything I went through and I have a beautiful little boy to show for it.
“It affected my sex life for a long time. I just didn’t want to. I was in pain and was healing. Now I buy high-waisted bikinis to cover it.
“I exercise regularly and eat well but I know it will probably be with me for ever unless I have surgery.
“But as long as we have our happiness and health, I embrace it. If Beyonce can, I can.”
‘I felt so proud of my scar – instinctively I saw it as a trophy and not a scar’
Hairdresser Nina Burke, 28, lives with her husband and their son Carter-Jack, six-and-a-half months in Rotherham.
Nina says:
“My caesarean section in February this year was an emergency. When I was ready to push my son’s heart stopped beating on two occasions. The last thing I heard before I was given a general anaesthetic was someone shouting, “we’re going to have to cut him out quick.”
“I didn’t have time to sign the consent forms - my husband did.
“When I came around I’d been a mum for 40 minutes. Both my husband and mum had got to cuddle my son first – which upset me a bit.
“It took me two weeks before I could bear to look in the mirror at my stomach. I was so scared of what I would see. I felt low and my confidence had taken a knock too. My husband had already inspected it for me. He was incredibly supportive telling me it was fine and would heal eventually.
“The pain and soreness of my scar made me think it would look horrendous - which is why I refused to look at it for so long.
“When I finally plucked up the courage to have a peek, my first thoughts were, ‘wow!’ I felt so proud of my scar. Instinctively I saw it as a trophy and not a scar. It’s a positive reminder of what I got at the end of it. Now I can’t stop looking at my stomach.
“Even so the pouch had a huge impact on my love life the first couple of months. I didn’t dare show off my body to my husband in bed. My figure had changed. I felt unattractive and I was scared he would feel the same. But he was more concerned that I wouldn’t be upset.
“I was also frightened how my husband would view me - if he would still fancy me. It's a massive change to my body.
“His words of encouragement made my confidence in bed just grow and grow and soon we are having sex regularly again.
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“Looking back, I can’t believe I felt that way. It was because I was concerned of what others would think of me.
“Before I was pregnant I weighed 11 stone. At my heaviest pregnant with Carter-Jack I was 13 stone 7lbs. At the moment I’m 12 stone and know I have a way to go. But I'm not worried about the weight gain.
“Today I actually like looking at my scar and at my mummy pouch. It’s what my body went through so we could have Carter-Jack. It is a permanent reminder that I am a mummy and created my gorgeous son. We're a family now thanks to my mummy pouch - what could be more life affirming than that?”