Most mothers have scars — some invisible, others more obvious — from the challenging and exciting journey into parenthood. Whether you have stretch marks, a lingering baby bump, or emotional wounds (pregnancy and childbirth are intense!), know that you are not alone. And you shouldn’t be ashamed of any of it.
In fact, many celebrity moms feel damn good about their bodies and what they’ve accomplished, particularly when it comes to their C-section scars. Take Alyssa Milano, who called hers “incredibly tribal” or Amy Schumer who showed hers off in a nude selfie. Other women, like Jessie James Decker have revealed their scars as proof that new moms are healing and need to rest during the postpartum period.
These celebrity moms are just one portion of the many women who have delivered their babies via Cesarean. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 32.7 percent of all U.S. deliveries are by C-section, and the World Health Organization found that C-section rates are rising globally, now accounting for 21 percent of all childbirths worldwide.
All deliveries are beautiful and birth should be celebrated, no matter what that experience looks like. That’s why we are so excited to see celebrity moms talking about the emotional and physical strength required to undergo a C-section and making peace with their scars instead of covering them up or feeling ashamed. After all, they represent a miracle and each one is beautiful!
Read more about the celebrities talking about (and celebrating!) their C-section scars.
A version of this article was published in 2021.
Vanessa Morgan
Image Credit: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection Riverdale alum Vanessa Morgan had an emergency C-section when she welcomed her son River with ex-husband Michael Kopech. The actress also shares daughter Kaia with boyfriend James Karnik. In 2022, Morgan told Kindred By Parents that she got a tattoo to celebrate her C-section scar which she calls her “warrior scar.”
“I got the word ‘kintsugi,’ which is Japanese pottery that is believed to be more beautiful for having been broken,” she said.
Kelly Hughes
Image Credit: Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Kelly Hughes made history in 2022 when she became the first woman to show her C-section scar in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
“I am speechless and so honored to be the FIRST” Hughes wrote on Instagram. ” … I struggled with insecurities from my scar being that I’m a model and my incredibly difficult recovery but it wasn’t until I ’embraced my scar that I experienced the true power in it’ 💕”
Sharna Burgess
Image Credit: Kayla Oaddams/WireImage Sharna Burgess shares son Zane with husband Brian Austin Green, and opened up in 2022 about her initial fear of looking at her C-section scar. “What I had no idea about was my recovery from this,” the Dancing with the Stars pro wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her scar. “I went in expecting a vaginal delivery and came out with a C-section. In total transparency, I was afraid to look at my body for the first time afterwards. The incision and omg the swelling? I looked and thought, ‘Wow, I am utterly unrecognizable and my body has been through some serious sh*t.’ but of course it had… I grew a life inside me.”
Witney Carson
Image Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety Dancing with the Stars’ Witney Carson initially “mourned” the fact that she didn’t have a “normal delivery.” Over time, she realized that without her C-section, she wouldn’t have her first son Leo (and later her second son, Jet!).
“My C-section gave me a new found strength mentally and physically, a beautiful battle scar, and my most precious gift 🙏🏼,” she wrote on Instagram in 2021.
Alyssa Milano
Image Credit: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection Alyssa Milano has talked about her C-section scar for years, sharing her pride for the reminder of her body’s achievements. As Milano told the Me Becoming Mom podcast in November 2021, “How many people can say this is where they cut me open, removed all of the organs in the way, got my baby out, gave me my baby, put all of the organs back in, and then stitched me and stapled me up? There’s something incredibly tribal about it, almost. It feels almost like a tattoo in a way.”
We love thinking about a C-section scar as a tattoo — a sweet reminder that it should be appreciated. Some people even get tattoos that incorporate their scars. In 2016, the actress told Today, “I love my C-section scar, because it’s where my babies came from.”
Milano shares kids Milo and Elizabella with husband David Bugliari.
Lea Michele
Image Credit: John Nacion/Variety Lea Michele loves the way her C-section scar reminds her of becoming a mom to son Ever who she shares with husband Zandy Reich along with daughter Emery. In Aug. 2021, the actress shared a photo to her Instagram Stories in which she wore a bikini.
“C-section scar so low you can’t even see it,” she wrote. “Although I don’t mind at all because it’s the greatest reminder in the whole world! I can’t believe it’s August and my baby’s going to be 1 soon!”
Lindsay Arnold
Image Credit: Elizabeth Goodenough/Everett Collection As a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars, Lindsay Arnold knows a thing or two about what the body can do. And in an April 2021 Instagram photo, she revealed that her “favorite” body part is the scar from her C-section after welcoming daughter Sage with husband Sam Cusick. The couple also shares daughter June.
She wrote, “C-Section Scar: there has been some speculation on my last couple posts about whether or not I have been photoshopping my scar out of my pictures…now I usually don’t even give time of day to comments like this BUT I feel like this needs to be addressed as it’s important to me that you all know that my [C-section] scar is now my favorite part of my body.”
Arnold added, “It is the representation of the thing I am most proud of in my life and that is our sweet Sagey. I seriously want to show my scar to everyone I see cause I think it’s so insane and crazy cool that Sage came out of that little cut in my belly?! I mean come on how incredible is that?! What’s also incredible are amazing doctors that make it possible to do a [C-section] and have the scar be so low it is not even visible in a bikini (had to pull my suit down low for this) which is why you all are not seeing it in my pics.”
Arnold concluded in part, “WOMENS BODIES ARE INCREDIBLE.”
Malin Andersson
Image Credit: WireImage In January 2019, Malin Andersson’s newborn daughter Consy passed away and a few months later, the Love Island star expressed her grief with a photo that celebrated her C-section scar.
In April 2021, during Cesarean Awareness Month, Andersson posted a photo of herself wearing a white bra-and-underwear set with rosebuds arranged in a heart around her stomach. “I have so much love for my C-section scar. It’s a reminder of where I once was, who I am now…and how far I have come,” she wrote. “Miss you baby girl.”
In Jan. 2022, Andersson welcomed baby Xaya with her boyfriend Jared who left the mother and daughter just 4 weeks later.
Amy Schumer
Image Credit: Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection In January 2021, Amy Schumer posted a nude selfie to Instagram showing off her C-section scar. “Feeling like my C-section looks cute today!” she captioned the image adding the hashtags #hotgirlwinter and #csection.
Two years earlier, Schumer and her husband Chris Fischer welcomed their son Gene.
The comedian had previously told the Informed Pregnancy and Parenting podcast that she had a C-section at 39 weeks after originally wanting to deliver at a birthing center. “I was throwing up through the first hour of my C-section,” she said during the interview. “It’s supposed to take about an hour and a half — mine took over three hours because of my endometriosis and that was really scary.”
In the end, the C-section just brought much-needed relief to Schumer. She explained, “I had a fresh C-section which had complications [but] I was just so happy. I mean, other than just having a baby, which a couple of people told me the day you give birth is the best day of your life, and that was true for me, but that relief.”
Jessie James Decker
Image Credit: MORA/Everett Collection Country music singer Jessie James Decker posted a photo to her Instagram Stories showing off her C-section scar in 2021. “Cold weather making me miss the beach,” she wrote, alongside a photo of herself wearing a bikini. “Yes, rock the C-section scar. Loving the DMs.”
Decker shares kids Vivianne, Eric, and Forrest, and Denver with former NFL player Eric Decker.
Jenny Mollen
Image Credit: RCF/Everett Collection Actress and author Jenny Mollen, the wife of American Pie star Jason Biggs, loves her C-section scar so much that she calls it “artistry.” As she wrote on Instagram in 2017 alongside a close-up photo of her stomach, “I just met my new C-section scar for the first time this morning. Thank you Dr. Albert Sassoon for your artistry. Because I wish somebody had shown me a pic like this 9 months ago, I’d like to insist this be your new business card.”
Mollen and Biggs share children Sid and Lazlo.
