When mum-of-three Laura found a photo of herself on her husband's phone, she was horrified.

When mum-of-three Laura Mazza found a photo of herself on her husband’s phone, she was horrified.

“I was flicking through my husband’s photos looking for a photo he took of the kids when I saw it,” the blogger told Mamamia.

“I think my reaction to it spoke volumes. I cringed, and I thought ‘God, I look disgusting’.”

But for Laura, coming across the photo that initially left her feeling “self conscious” soon inspired her to accept her body and influence others to do the same.

Sharing the photo of herself in a swimsuit on Instagram, Rachel described how seeing the photo her husband snapped reminded her of the times people have made her feel unhappy about her body in the past.

“It reminded me of when I took a photo of me and my newborn son and someone asked me if I wanted to try a scrub that got rid of acne scars and a cream that rid me of dark lines under the eyes – I had been in labour for 14 hours,” Laura wrote on Instagram.

“But it made me feel bad about myself, even though I was feeling euphoric.”

The blogger, who runs website The Mum on the Run also noted that mothers are often expected to immediately ‘bounce back’ after giving birth.

“It’s hammered into us. You give birth then you bounce back. You don’t? And you’re lazy. You’re not trying hard enough,” Laura wrote.

“You have to justify yourself to everyone why your body has changed so much… but the reality is, it’s because you just had a f*cking baby,” she continued.

“I have cellulite. So does most of the population. We all have uteruses and organs and some of us have evidence of a place where a baby once lived and that’s why our bodies are the way they are.”

Speaking to Mamamia, Laura shared why she decided to share the photo to Instagram.

“I try to love my body, which is hard for women to do. We are stuck with unrealistic expectations that we have ourselves and from others, especially mothers who have had babies,” she said.

“When my husband said that I looked happy [in the photo], it made me realise, and as cliche as it sounds, it’s all that matters.

“When I’m 80 and looking at those photos, I’ll wish I had that body.”

Since sharing the photo, Laura said she’s received a lot of positive feedback.

“I’m happy the reaction was so positive. I’ve gotten feedback that I’ve given other women permission to take photos of themselves in their bathers too.”