EastEnders star Melissa Suffield has been praised for discussing her "belly overhang" almost three years after welcoming her son.
The 29-year-old actress - who is best known for playing Lucy Beale on the BBC soap from 2004 until 2010 - took to Instagram to share her figure.
It isn't the first time that Melissa - who shares son River, two, with her husband Robert Brendan - has posted body positive content.
Her latest post included two photos - the first shows her stomach at three days postpartum, whilst the second showed it almost three years later, at 32 months postpartum.
The two photos appeared in a comparison video. Melissa wrote at the end of the clip: "There is no time limit. You don't have to 'snap back'. Take it at your own pace".
She further shared her thoughts in the caption that was included in the post, in which she told her followers that they "don't owe anyone a flat stomach or visible abs".
The mother-of-one began the recent caption by simply writing: "Belly overhang." She continued in the post on the platform: "The Mother's Apron as it's (hideously) known."
She further commented that researching "how to lose belly fat fast" or "how to get rid of saggy belly" can be met with "dangerous schemes, surgeries, and straight up lies".
Melissa also wrote about the "struggle" of attempting to tuck it into your jeans and the hope of them evening it out whilst simultaneously not digging into the skin.
"But the sense of relief that sets in when you realise it's ok to have it. If your belly is because of pregnancy, it's ok to have not lost the baby weight or to have the overhang remain if you did," she continued in the caption.
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She added: "If scar tissue has made it stubborn. It's ok if you look like you had a baby - because you did. And if it isn't? Still ok, folks. You don't owe anyone a flat stomach or visible abs. You owe *yourself* contentment, whatever that looks like for you - belly or not".
The post has amassed more than a thousand likes on the platform. It prompted praise from some of her followers, who took to the comments section to share their thoughts.
"I have a very similar body shape/tummy to yours' and I have spent many nights crying over it. [...] You give me hope I will love my tummy again one day," wrote one follower.
Another said: "My body will never be the same and posts like this are helping me come to terms with that. It's a learning process". Others expressed similar sentiments.
"Well done for keeping it real. We need more like you," wrote a third. Another person said: "I'm so grateful for your posts". Whilst one follower said the posts are "refreshing".
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