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Sports Illustrated Swimsuit features model baring C-section scar for 1st time

"It wasn’t until I embraced my scar that I experienced the true power in it."
/ Source: TODAY

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit is featuring a model showing off her C-section scar for the first time in the magazine's 58-year history.

For the 2022 Swimsuit issue, Kelly Hughes, in collaboration with Frida Mom, exposed her C-section scar in an effort to celebrate all moms.

"I struggled with insecurities from my scar being that I’m a model and my incredibly difficult recovery, but it wasn’t until I embraced my scar that I experienced the true power in it," Hughes wrote on Instagram.

Hughes delivered her son, Harlem, 3, by cesarean section, a surgical procedure involving an incision made in a mother's abdomen to access the uterus and deliver a baby or babies.

On the page opposite Hughe's photo, an advertorial for Frida Mom reads, "All great achievements leave their mark."

The CDC estimates more than 1.1 million Cesarean deliveries occur each year.

The partnership with Frida Mom is part of SI Swim's #PayWithChange initiative, which hopes to "positively shift the mainstream cultural narratives associated with women’s bodies, especially when becoming a mom."

This year's swimsuit issue also coincides with the launch of Frida Mom's C-Section Recovery line of products, which are designed specifically for a mom's post-op body.

Are you a mom who proudly delivered your child(ren) via C-section? Or maybe you're a new mom just learning to embrace your scars? We want to see! Submit a photo of yourself and we may use it for an upcoming story.