Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue features model with visible C-section scar for first time

Sports Illustrated's latest swimsuit issue featured a model with a visible C-Section scar, for the first time.

On Wednesday (11 May), the magazine took to its official Instagram to share a photo of Miami-based jewelry designer and model Kelly Hughes.

And pulling down her bikini bottom, she showcased her scar.

"We are proud to partner with @fridamom to celebrate all moms who bare C-Section scars by featuring @kellyhues in #SISwim22- the FIRST woman to expose her C-Section scar in magazine's history!" the caption read.

It continued: "Let's give some love to all our moms out there to acknowledge the power of the female body and the beauty of motherhood!"

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Many people on social media praised Hughes and the sports magazine in the comments.

One wrote: "Yes yes yesssss I'm [an] emergency C-Section mom and reading this is #openingeyes !! There's so many woman ashamed for their scar but is nothing more than the prof you are strong!!!!"

"Yes! I'm proud of my c-section scar & the story behind it," another added.

A third wrote: "What a beautiful representation of another amazing mama!"

Hughes also took to her Instagram timeline and shared the same photo and said she was "speechless and so honored" to be the first woman to bear her C-section scar in the magazine,

"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'," she wrote.

Hughes, who has a three-year-old son named Harlem, told the outlet that she cried when doctors initially told her that she needed to have a C-section because it wasn't a part of her birth plan.

"It was my first lesson in motherhood. Even though I had my plans of what I wanted, I didn't want to put my baby at risk out of my selfishness," she said.

The outlet further noted that after she left the hospital with her newborn, she developed a serious infection that required her to visit the hospital and have her scar cut open again.

"It took time to heal physically and mentally and embrace all that I had gone through to find the strength in it," she continued before adding that she hasn't felt as empowered by her scar as she does now.

In the most recent years, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has been doing its best to welcome diversity in all forms by featuring models of different races and sizes.

Last year, accomplished tennis player Naomi Osaka became the first Black female athlete to be on the cover.

She became one of three cover models, alongside rapper Megan Thee Stallion and transgender model and actress Leyna Bloom.

And in 2016, Ashley Graham became the first plus-size model to grace the magazine cover.

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