You Need to See Ashley Graham’s Video Loving on Her Postpartum Stretch Marks

Matthew Eisman, Getty Images

Ashley Graham, a fierce champion of body acceptance and positivity, just posted an Instagram video literally showing her postpartum stretch marks some love. In the clip, Graham forms a heart shape with her hands over the stretch marks on her belly (courtesy of her son Isaac, who was born in January 2020), accompanied by a caption of rainbow-heart emoji.

Graham got a lot of love in return after posting her newest Instagram video, as she always does when she shares her signature, unfiltered posts.

“Mine is the same but worth every second i get to spend with my girls,” celebrity hair stylist Danielle Priano commented, while fellow plus-size model and mother Tara Lynn said the post was “empowering.” Helena Christensen wrote, “That beautiful belly carried and created a little human life.” Another commenter expressed her gratitude for Graham, saying she “always helped boost my confidence.”

If you know anything about Graham, you’ll know the model and podcaster regularly shows off her stretch marks, both the ones she earned before and after giving birth.

She often shared how her body changed throughout her pregnancy, too, as evidenced by the stunning nude selfies and videos she posted on Instagram. More recently, she posted a shot modeling a bikini from Swimsuits For All, an inclusive swimwear line that Graham often partners with, in which her stretch marks are on full display.

But pregnancy and motherhood brings about intense emotional changes as well as physical (obvious statement of the day), and Graham has been equally candid about the former as the latter. In a January episode of her podcast, Pretty Big Deal, Graham and guest Shay Mitchell shared their experiences with “prepartum depression” during their pregnancies.

“All of a sudden my emotions, my mind, my body, things that I always had control over are now totally out of whack,” Graham said on the podcast. “I can't talk to anybody about it. My husband doesn't understand, but he's trying to be as supportive as possible. My mom is like, 'Oh, you'll be fine.' I think I was spiraling a little bit and I was crying a lot."

We’re eternally grateful to Graham for sharing the “messy parts” of being a woman/mother/human being with a body. And it's clear that her candor is helping out moms across the world, too.