Kelly Hughes, who has worked with Sports Illustrated previously, took to Instagram earlier this week to reveal that she has become the first woman in the iconic issue’s 58-year history to expose her C-section scar. The photos were taken in conjunction with SI and Frida Mom’s Pay With Change partnership, which Hughes wrote aims to “normalize and embrace the changes with a woman’s body especially when becoming a mom is so amazing to be a part of.”
Kelly Hughes C-Section Scar Shown in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
“I am speechless and so honored to be in @si_swimsuit 2022 as the FIRST woman to expose her c-section scar in magazines history!” the 42-year-old model wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of herself with a huge smile on her face as she posed in a beige bikini on a beach in Miami. “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 added. Not only is the photoshoot allowing a genuine look at non-traditional post-birth bodies, but the magazine has also launched a C-section recovery line alongside it, which will proudly highlight women who’ve had C-sections. Frida Mom, a brand dedicated to educating women and normalizing the raw, often unspoken aspects of motherhood, is the first official Pay With Change partner. The initiative allows the two brands to collaborate on changing the conversations about motherhood and postpartum recovery. Frida Mom CEO and founder Chelsea Hirschhorn joined the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit advisory board earlier this year, and she worked with SI on the initiative and photoshoot. “Joining Sports Illustrated as its first official Pay With Change brand partner is a perfect fit for Frida because they have a valuable platform to disrupt the traditional narrative around womens’ bodies— especially those they feature who are mothers,” Hirschhorn said in a press release. “When we announced ‘Pay With Change’ we set out to change the cost of doing business from just a monetary value to a currency of doing good—choosing only to celebrate and partner with companies who are creating change for women in the varied ways they need it,” MJ Day, Editor-in-Chief of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, noted in the same press release. “It’s extremely encouraging to find partners like Frida Mom who are willing to join in our endless commitment for change and we couldn’t be more excited to highlight their initiatives surrounding the realities of motherhood, pregnancy and postpartum recovery.” Frida Mom also posted about the major moment on their Instagram account, writing, “History made. Scratch that. Herstory made. We’ve partnered with @si_swimsuit to feature a model showing her C-Section Scar - for the first. time. ever. To @kellyhues & all the C-Section moms, wear that scar with pride. It’s proof you’re strong as a mother ????.” Hughes revealed she received many positive messages after sharing her happy news about the photoshoot. “Thank you for all of your messages and posts!” she wrote on Instagram. “This means so much to me because this represents all of us women and mommas ???? I hope you feel seen and heard!” Some of those positive messages came from Hughes’ fellow models, including Hunter McGrady, who commented “ICONIC!!!”, as well as pop stars like Colombian singer J Balvin, who wrote, “Congrats u make a huge statement.”
When Did Model Kelly Hughes Give Birth?
Hughes gave birth to son Harlem, her only child with her husband Jared Hughes, in 2018. She had prepared for a vaginal birth but told the New York Post that after 36 hours of contractions, she was told a C-section was necessary for safety precautions for both her and the baby. After the birth, she ended up with an infection in her uterus and went back to the hospital for a second surgery that required her C-section wound to be reopened. She told the outlet that it was both physically and psychologically taxing. Though she was able to return to modeling after a few months, initially participating in a maternity shoot in Canada when Harlem was two-months-old, healing took a long time. “I thought that going back to work was going to have me feeling more like me again," she admitted. “It took me four months to physically heal. And mentally, it really took years.” The model told Allure that her C-section scar itself didn’t make as negative an impact on her career as her insecurity stemming from it did. “It took time to heal physically and mentally and embrace all that I had gone through and the many changes to my body to find the strength in it,” she said. “It wasn’t until I embraced my scar that I experienced the power in it.” While there is even more history to be made, as well as the normalization of postpartum realities, this photoshoot is a major step forward for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. Hughes isn’t alone in basking in mom pride in this 2022 issue, however. Katrina Scott joins her as the first model to be photographed for the issue with a visible baby bump, while Hunter McGrady was only six months postpartum when she participated in her SI Swimsuit photoshoot. Next, see the most iconic throwback Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover models then and now.
