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Breathtaking: Honest and beautiful pictures of motherhood.

By MAMAMIA TEAM

According to the tabloids (obviously the sensible guiding voice on all healthy living), two weeks after giving birth your body should be looking fabulous. And by ‘fabulous’ they mean even better than what it did pre-baby. You should be slim and smooth and stretch mark free. Because it’s expected of you.

Bollocks to that, we say.

Enter: The Fourth Trimester Bodies Project, which is aimed at normalising, embracing and taking pride in women’s natural post-pregnancy bodies.

Pinup photographer Ashlee Well Jackson wants to change people’s assumptions that attaining one’s pre-pregnancy weight is not only hugely difficult, but also a reflection upon a narrow and near impossible standard of beauty.

“I see beautiful, inspiring, real women on a daily basis who struggle with their body image because they don’t feel they measure up with who the media tells them to be,” Jackson states. “So much more needs to be done in our society to embrace body positivity and normalise breastfeeding.”

Jackson is raising money for the project through Fundrazr, and hopes to photograph women across the U.S and publish a book of photographs in conjunction with a gallery show. In the meantime, you can view her online gallery here.