This powerful campaign showing mothers' real post-birth bodies is so important

In a world where women are bombarded with unrealistic beauty standards on the daily, all hail Mothercare, who are fighting back with an incredible new body-positive campaign.

The campaign, #BodyProudMums, celebrates the reality of women's real post-natal bodies with a series of powerful, unfiltered photos, complete with scars and stretch marks.

Featuring ten new mums and babies with their own personalised story, the campaign looks to challenge the impossible expectations set upon women to regain their 'pre-baby body' after giving birth.

The campaign was shot by photographer Sophie Mayanne, who vowed back in 2017 never to digitally manipulate skin in her work.

Explaining the motivation behind the new campaign, Maryanne said: “The aim is for mums of all shapes and sizes to be able to identify with these photos in one way or another, and to feel more confident with their imperfections.”

According to new research by the baby and childcare brand, more than half of new mothers report feeling unable to be proud after giving birth; hardly surprising, given the casual body-shaming women are exposed to every day.

The research also revealed that over 80% of UK mothers have compared their post-birth bodies to unrealistic images in the media.

Meanwhile, 61% of mothers feel that their pre and post-natal experiences are not represented in the media, underlining the importance of normalising women's post-childbirth bodies.

"At the heart of the campaign is the belief that all mums are beautiful. After all, their bodies have just performed a miracle," Mothercare commented in a statement.

The campaign, which came second in TFL's "The Women We See" competition, has already appeared in more than 30 Tube stations across London, on LCD screens and escalator panels.