Kate Lawler is receiving praise for proudly sharing an image of her C-section scar on social media.
The mum-of-one welcomed her baby daughter Noa with fiancé Martin in February last year.
She recently took to Instagram to mark International Caesarean Section awareness month and to speak about how 'proud' she is of the scar.
The 41-year-old, who won Big brother in 2002, posted a picture of herself wearing a black bra and knickers with the scar on her tummy visible.
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Kate reflected on the 'planned, abdominal birth' she opted for, and documented the healing process.
“I’m proud of my scar and will never remove it permanently as it reminds me of one of the most special days of my life.
“This tiny red smile that I catch a glimpse of every day in the mirror still makes me feel in awe of what the female body is capable of.
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“I also believe that if we can heal better, we’ll feel better and up until six weeks ago, my scar was very raised and quite dark."
She concluded the post by revealing how she learned to embrace her body her body. “Like every woman, I want to feel confident and happy with my body so I embraced how I looked during pregnancy and I love my belly birth scar as without these, there would be no Tayto!”
The reality television star advertised Elastoplast Scar Reducer, a brand of scar reducer patches she claimed helped to naturally make her scar fade and become flattened.
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Mums in the comments section shared their own C-section stories and countless women were touched by the fact Kate refers to her scar as a smile.
“Absolutely love how you refer to it as a smile,” one mum shared in the comments. “[I] got a smile too, from my greatest ever achievement!”
While another woman said C-section scars are “a beautiful reminder of what the female body can do”.
Women also revealed how they feel about their own C-sections and their scars in the comments.
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One Instagram user said: “I had emergency section for my middle boy. Beautiful scar to prove and tbh glad he came out the sunroof as he was 9lb 6oz”.
A second woman wrote: “Thank you for sharing this. I had two and my scar is awful. I’m immensely proud of it as it gave me two beautiful girls but I will be trying this.”
While a third added: “I had an emergency Caesarean five weeks ago with complications. All worth it and I would go through it all over again for my daughter. The scar is a memory of how amazing and strong my body is”.
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Another woman shared: “I had an emergency c section 8 years ago. I’m proud of my scar too my husband says it’s beautiful because that’s there for our child.. it still hurts sometimes though.”
For information on C-sections, risks and the recovery process please visit the dedicated NHS website page here.
Gregory Robinson