Plus-Size Mom's Moving Message to Her Baby Girl About Body Shame

Delfina Baca's labor experience was not at all what she expected. Since she's a nurse, Delfina didn't make a birth plan because she had seen so many deliveries and assumed hers wouldn't be any different.

Unfortunately, little Cora's arrival was much more dramatic and painful than expected. After a long induction and 70 hours of laboring, Delfina had a C-section and was finally able to meet her little one. She shared her story, as well as an intimate photo, with 4th Trimester Bodies, a group focused on celebrating the uncensored beauty of motherhood, in order to honor her body.

After Delfina and her newborn were discharged from the hospital, Delfina had to use a wound vacuum with multiple dressing changes for the next eight weeks as her body healed. "My experience was not like any birth story I had witnessed but it was mine!" she shared. "Would I have loved to change it? Yes and no. Ultimately, my body amazed me throughout the whole process and that is why I had to do this project."

This new mama posed in the powerful portrait with her little girl to celebrate her recovery but also to teach her daughter an important lesson. "I feel like in a world where you are made to feel bad or shamed for being plus size or not perfect, I want people to see that we are people too. We want the same things and our bodies are just as amazing," she said. "I want my daughter to know that no matter what, her body is a temple and no one can make her feel bad for who she is or what she looks like."