(NEW YORK) — For the first time in the magazine’s 58-year history, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue will feature a model who is showing her cesarean section scar.
The empowering moment came together through a partnership between Frida Mom founder Chelsea Hirschhorn and the publication with the intention of celebrating all moms who bare C-section scars.
There is also an aim to authentically show the beauty of motherhood and help women who’ve gone through a C-section feel proud, while additionally normalizing conversations about all postpartum recoveries and bodies.
The featured model, Kelly Hughes, is a C-section mom who has previously worked with the brand.
Hirschhorn’s brand, Frida Mom, is on a mission to support women through their physical transformation into motherhood and recently launched C-Section Recovery, which is a first-of-its-kind product line designed to improve the maternal post-op recovery experience.
The magazine and Frida Mom are also partnering as part of SI Swimsuit’s “Pay With Change” initiative to positively shift the mainstream cultural narratives associated with women’s bodies — specifically, mothers who gave birth via C-section.
“Joining Sports Illustrated as its first official Pay With Change brand partner is a perfect fit for Frida Mom because they have a valuable platform to disrupt the traditional narrative around women’s bodies — especially those they feature who are mothers,” Hirschhorn, who is also a mother of four, said in a statement.
“We’re thrilled that Sports Illustrated Swimsuit appreciates the importance of highlighting these women authentically — C-section scars and all — and welcome the progress we will make together as a result of this shared commitment,” she added.
A cesarean section is a surgical procedure performed to deliver a baby through the birthing person’s abdomen, instead of the vagina. It is a procedure that in some cases may be planned and in others is done on a more emergency basis if the labor is not progressing or if the health of the mother or the baby is in danger, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
More than one million children are birthed via cesarean deliveries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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