Coronation Street's Helen Flanagan shared the news with her followers on Instagram that she has undergone breast surgery after her confidence became affected after she stopped breastfeeding. The actress, 32, announced the news on her Instagram Stories on Sunday, January 8.
Addressing her huge following, Helen said: "Hi, so I wanted to pop on here. I'm actually really nervous about sharing this actually but I've had a boob job. I had it done on Thursday. Yeah, so I'm in recovery at the moment. I have been really nervous about sharing this, because you always get some not very nice comments or what have you.
"But yeah, it's just something that I did for myself, I really wanted to do it for my confidence. I have been really nervous about sharing this. Obviously I very much am for body confidence, and very much for supporting other women, but supporting women in all choices that they decide to do. I think if something really is bothering you, then I think, you know, it's a good thing to do something about it."
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Manchester Evening News reports how Helen detailed how she is in the early stages of recovery: "I'm on day two of recovery. My friend just helped me wash my hair and dry it because you can't actually. You can't shower properly, you have to keep the wounds dry. I have this kind of like, support bra on, and you can't get it wet," she explained.
"I never thought I would have a boob job. I was always, like, really busty. I never thought that I would be someone that would need or have a boob job. Basically, my boobs just changed so much from pregnancy and breastfeeding. And it's a really tricky one here, because I loved all my breastfeeding journeys. I'm a massive supporter of breastfeeding. I think it's an amazing experience that you can have your children and I would do it, you know, time and time again. But in total, I probably breastfed for about, I would say, about three years."
Helen has three children with Bristol Rovers footballer Scott Sinclair - daughters Matilda, seven, and Delilah, four, and a one-year-old son Charlie. "I've had my babies all kind of like close together. Matilda was eight months, Delilah was 13 months and, yeah, Charlie was 14 months. So it's all in together really about three years of breastfeeding."
She then added: "'I think it's because I was quite big and busty before. There's no other nice way, I keep trying to think of a nicer way to say it. But they just sagged. There's no nicer way to say it, but they just became really saggy and I can't think of a better way to say it and it just affected my confidence."
In 2018, Helen left Coronation Street to have her second child Delilah. She says having children changed her body as her frame changed and she lost weight from hyperemesis gravidarum, a pregnancy complication that causes excessive nausea and vomiting in all of her pregnancies. "When I first had Matilda, my boobs were fine. In fact, they went they went smaller, which I really liked," she said. "I think my frame changed, having children. I've always been slim and small but I kind of lost quite a lot of weight from having children.
"I always had hyperemesis when I was pregnant and I just lost weight with my kids. I think I went down to maybe about a C cup after breastfeeding Matilda, from being like a natural E cup to a C cup, and I just kind of felt like it really suited my frame. "I didn't feel like I needed a boob job after pregnancy with Matilda and feeding Matilda. And then when I fell pregnant with Delilah, obviously through pregnancy, I felt totally confident. And I breastfed Delilah for 13 months. And I really, really, really, really, really noticed the difference.
"I really, really, really don't want to be getting messages from other women saying that I'm not supporting breastfeeding because I really am, like breastfeeding is amazing. I will do it time and time again. It's so special for bonding. I loved my feeding journeys and would not change it for the world. I'm just being honest about it because I just breastfed for such a long time and I've had three children close together."
She continued: "With Delilah, I had for 14 months and then I noticed a real difference. I loved the size of them. I went down to a B cup. And I loved being small because I feel like it suited the rest of my frame because I'm like natural size six, so I felt like it suited my body.
"But again... the breast tissue, like it really did sag and, yeah, I remember being in the shower and being like 'oh, wow, like, what is this?' So I remember thinking I do want to have a boob job, but I knew that I wasn't done having children. I really knew that there was still another baby in me and I wanted to have my children close together."
She went on: "Charlie was a surprise. I knew that after feeding Charlie that I would go and have a boob job. I was told I had to wait six months after breastfeeding till I could have a boob job. I was a bit disappointed because I remember I filmed something early autumn that I wanted to have my boobs done for, to feel more confident. But yeah, it's just been the right time really January, because there's not so much going on. And it's a good time to recover. The kids are with Scott and his mum and I miss them so much.
"I get them back tomorrow. Well, when I post these, it will be today, so I get them back. All I wanted to do was cuddle Charlie, I know I can't cuddle them for a little while with recovery. But I'm gonna keep you all updated about my recovery."
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