Ashley Graham Shares a Raw In-Labor Photo Calling Childbirth Her “Greatest Accomplishment”
Ashley Graham shared a powerful photo of herself giving birth to her first child for International Women’s Day.
“The greatest pain I’ve ever known and the greatest accomplishment that I’ve ever achieved,” she captioned the Instagram photo.
The 32-year-old model has been candid about new motherhood.
Motherhood has empowered Ashley Graham in a new way—which is why, on International Women’s Day, she shared a raw moment from the labor and delivery of her almost two-month-old son, Isaac. The candid shot captures the intensity and overwhelming pain of childbirth, which she calls her greatest accomplishment.
“This is the face of my greatest strength. The greatest pain I’ve ever known and the greatest accomplishment that I’ve ever achieved,” she captioned the Instagram photo. “On this International Women’s Day understand that despite whatever pain or trial we have all experienced as women, we are also strong, powerful, and capable of accomplishing greatness. Happy International Women’s Day! Let’s all celebrate our, and each other’s strengths today.”
A post shared by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@ashleygraham) on Mar 8, 2020 at 6:53am PDT
Women continued to uplift one another in the comments. “You’re a badass!!!! Love this!!!💪🏻🙏🏻❤️” Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn wrote. “Such powers we possess such strength,” another added. “This is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time,” someone else wrote.
Just like she helped trail-blaze representation in the plus-sized modeling community, she is making sure moms get the acknowledgement they deserve. Most of her Instagram grid has become a gallery of real mom moments, from documentation of her new stretch marks to pumping breastmilk in the back of an Uber to changing a dirty diaper on the floor of Staples.
“Sh💩t just got real! First diaper blow up while running errands with no restroom in sight!” she captioned the in-store shot. “Thank God I remembered to put the changing mat in the diaper bag!!!”
Even if others (including talk show host Wendy Williams) think she’s oversharing, Graham chooses to post the not-so-Instagrammable aspects of parenting so moms around the world don’t have to feel alone. Postpartum life can often feel isolating—especially having to process significant changes to your body and lifestyle—and Graham wants to be a friend to those who need it.
Three weeks postpartum, the 32-year-old shared another photo from her bathroom, wearing a sports bra and disposable underwear. “Raise your hand if you didn’t know you’d be changing your own diapers too🙋🏻♀️. After all these years in fashion I never could’ve guessed that disposable underwear would be my favorite piece of clothing but here we are!” she captioned the post. “No one talks about the recovery and healing (yes even the messy parts) new moms go through. I wanted to show you guys that it’s not all rainbows and butterflies!”
And she’s right about that.
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