Four mothers celebrate postpartum bodies with powerful photo, message of love

PHOENIX -- Many women struggle with body image after giving birth, but few talk about it, so a group of mothers took to social media to celebrate their postpartum bodies and help others do the same.

The four women -- Bethanie Garcia, Meg Boggs, Katie Crenshaw and Desiree Fortin -- have known each other online for years but just recently met in real life and wanted to mark the occasion because they had taken similar photos by themselves in the past.

"The scariest things to do...on social media are sometimes the things that need to be heard the most," Garcia told Phoenix television station KNXV.

Garcia posted the photo celebrating postpartum bodies with a message of love and friendship, calling her friends "a few of my favorite powerful women on the internet."

"You can have cellulite, you can have stretch marks and you can still be living a healthy lifestyle. Society may tell you that that's not beautiful, but you are," she said.

Though the photo garnered some negative comments, the group of friends doubled down on their celebration of diversity and are standing tall.

"There are a few women that have reached out to me and said that, because of my photo, they've started on their journey to self-love," Garcia explained.

The photo has created an opportunity for women to find a community online and talk openly about an issue usually hidden in the dark.

"When I started that journey about a year and a half ago, I wish I would have had someone to look up to," Garcia said.