How Your Partner Really Sees Your C-Section Scar: 'Strong, Powerful, Dedicated and Bad*ss'

Women are so hard on themselves. We finish off our nine-month pregnancy marathon by bringing life into the world, only to beat ourselves up for not having the exact same body we used to…Sheesh, can’t a mom catch a break!

While lots of women worry their c-section scar will be a turn-off for their partner, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Just ask Clint Edwards his thoughts on the matter, and he’ll immediately explain his love story for his wife’s post-baby battle mark. The dad and blogger shared an excerpt from his book I’m Sorry…Love Your Husband, where he opens up about the before and after thoughts of his wife’s c-section.

“Reaching from a gaping hole in my beautiful wife’s stomach was the head and right arm of a bloody, powder white, child-like creature,” he says. “People talk about the miracle of birth, and it always sounds beautiful, but the act of a birth, the moment of, was hands down, the most frightening thing I’d ever seen."

The dad isn’t too proud to admit how grateful he is that he wasn’t the one surgeons were operating on. As he points out, it’s not for the faint of heart.

“I looked at the bloody line of gauze, and felt 100-percent grateful that I’d never have a doctor reach inside my body, and pull someone out,” he confesses. “But nothing shocked me as much as the next day when Mel was up walking…I can still recall thinking that she was stoic, strong, powerful, dedicated and overall the most bad*ss person I knew.”

Edwards is fully aware that he’s married to a warrior mama, and loves every inch of her for it—even her scar. Especially her scar.

“Across Mel’s abdomen is a lengthy scar. It’s larger than any scar I have, and even if I do get a scar that equals hers, it will never signify as much importance,” he says.

“Her scar is evidence of dedication and determination to our family. It’s evidence of her willingness to do whatever it takes to bring our children into the world—a boy and two girls that fill my life with more joy than I ever thought possible.”

So the next time you look down at your scar and long for your before-baby body, try to look at it in a new light.

Because, as the dad says, “every time I see it, I am filled with a swell of admiration for the mother of my children.”

Whether you give birth vaginally or via c-section, it’s inevitable your body is going to be a little different. But once you stop and think about all that those changes stand for, you may find it a little easier to learn to love your postpartum body.

Please note: The Bump and the materials and information it contains are not intended to, and do not constitute, medical or other health advice or diagnosis and should not be used as such. You should always consult with a qualified physician or health professional about your specific circumstances.