Calendar Mums: Woman Organises Charity Shoot With 12 Mums To Show The True Beauty Of Motherhood | HuffPost Life

'Our bodies are precious. They are amazing. Women need to celebrate this.'

By

Life editor at HuffPost UK

A mum has organised a “calendar girls” style charity shoot to promote body positivity and show the true beauty of motherhood, stretch marks and all.

Rachael Rudgewick, 24, from Essex, who is mum to four-year-old Nico and one-year-old Aleisha, wants women to feel proud of their “wobbly bits” and show that their bodies are still beautiful after childbirth.

Rudgewick will use the calendar to raise money for baby loss charity, Sands, as she has friends who have been through stillbirth and neonatal deaths.

She was inspired to do the charity shoot after having a dream about it.

“I dreamt that me and my close friend Beccy, who is a photographer, put together a calendar of women,” she told HuffPost UK.

“I have always had problems with my body confidence since having two children and putting on three and a half stone for both pregnancies.”

RachaelRudgewick

Rachael Rudgewick and her daughter Aleisha during a trial photoshoot earlier this year.

Rudgewick continued: “I thought to myself: ‘Why do women put themselves through all the stress and depression of worrying about weight and scars and stretch marks?’

“All we should be thinking about is where these marks and wobbly bits have come from and what the end result was: our children.

“Our bodies are precious. They are amazing. Women need to celebrate this.”

RachaelRudgewick

Rachael Rudgewick

Rudgewick posted an appeal on Facebook to find other mums of different shapes, sizes, ages and races who would be keen to take part.

She managed to find 12 who were willing to be photographed by her friend Beccy (BeccyPphotography).

They will be shooting the calendar on 5 August and are currently looking for donations and sponsors to help get the calendars printed. Rudgewick hopes the calendar will be available to buy at the end of September 2017.

All the money raised for the calendars will go direct to Sands.

To donate visit Rudgewick’s JustGiving page and to find out more, you can visit her Facebook page.

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Before You Go

How To Help A Friend Through Miscarriage

Send Flowers(01 of15)

While not everyone is as open to talking about their feelings as I am, I think everyone loves to receive a bright bouquet of flowers –- it’s a nice way to say that you’re there for her, and you care, without forcing her to talk about her feelings. (credit:Getty)

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If you’ve gone through a similar experience, share your story with your grieving friend. While it’s unfortunate that miscarriage is so common, your friend can take comfort in not being alone. Knowing that others in their own network of friends have experienced the same thing makes it easier to work through the grieving process. (credit:Getty)

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There’s no better time for your friend to focus on taking care of themselves. A restful body will help to heal the mind. Gift your friend with a massage or a pedicure so she is forced to take time out to enjoy a little pampering. And if you can, join her! (credit:Getty)

Don’t Try To Tell Her That It'll All Be OK(04 of15)

Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything you can do to reassure your friend that they’ll feel better in a few weeks or months. It’s a grieving process –- one that affects everyone differently. All that you can do is lend an ear, hold a hand and wait it out with them. (credit:Getty)

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While you may be wondering what the doctors discovered or if your friend is going to try again -- wait for your friend to share those details with you. Don’t try to pry it out of her. She might not be ready to discuss the details with you yet, but if you let her know that you’re there for her and available if she wants to talk, then she will come to you when she's ready. (credit:Getty)

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2. Regular menstrual cycles are a sign of regular ovulation.Most women have regular cycles lasting between 24 and 35 days. This is usually a sign of regular, predictable ovulation. Women who do not ovulate regularly have irregular menstrual cycles. Those who do not ovulate at all may have a genetic condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

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3. Basal temperature charting does not predict ovulation.An older method of tracking ovulation involves taking your oral body temperature each morning before getting out of bed. This is called basal body temperature. This method is used to spot a rise in basal temperature, which is a sign that progesterone is being produced. The main problem with using this method is that your temperature rises after ovulation has already occurred. This makes it more difficult to time intercourse at an optimal time for conception. A better method is to use over-the-counter urine ovulation predictor test kits such as Clearblue Easy. These kits test for the hormone that prompts ovulation, which is called luteinizing hormone (LH).

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4. Most women with blocked fallopian tubes are completely unaware they may have had a prior pelvic infection.About 10 percent of infertility cases are due to tubal disease, either complete blockage or pelvic scarring causing tubal malfunction. One major cause of tubal disease is a prior pelvic infection from a sexually transmitted disease such as chlamydia. These infections can cause so few symptoms that you may be completely unaware your tubes are affected. This is why fertility physicians will order a dye test of the tubes, called a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), if you have been trying and failing to conceive for 6 months or longer.

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5. In most cases, stress does not cause infertility. Except in rare cases of extreme physical or emotional distress, women will keep ovulating regularly. Conceiving while on vacation is likely less about relaxation than about coincidence and good timing of sex.

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6. By age 44, most women are infertile, even if they are still ovulating regularly. Even with significant fertility treatment, rates of conception are very low after age 43. Most women who conceive in their mid-40's with fertility treatment are using donated eggs from younger women.

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7. Having fathered a pregnancy in the past does not guarantee fertility. Sperm counts can change quite a bit with time, so never assume that a prior pregnancy guarantees fertile sperm. Obtaining a semen analysis is the only way to be sure the sperm are still healthy!

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9. Vitamin D may improve results of fertility treatments. A recent study from the University of Southern California suggested that women who were undergoing fertility treatments, but had low vitamin D levels, might have lower rates of conception. This vitamin is also essential during pregnancy. At Pacific Fertility Center, we recommend our patients take 2,000-4,000 IU per day.

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10. Being either underweight or overweight is clearly linked with lowered levels of fertility. The evidence in recent years is that obesity is clearly linked with a longer time to conception. Having a body mass index less than 18 or over 32 is associated with problems ovulating and conceiving, as well as problems during pregnancy.

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