New mum Gemma Atkinson has spoken about the ways pregnancy changed her body.
The Hits Radio host revealed that having a cesarean left her in so much pain she couldn't even brush her own hair.
The former Strictly Come Dancing finalist star welcomed baby daughter Mia last July with her pro dancer boyfriend Gorka Marquez who she met on the show in 2017.
Speaking with Women's Health magazine the Bury actress revealed the agony of a C-section "completely floored" her as doctors cut through "seven layers of fat, tissue and muscle."
Gemma, 35, insists that after having Mia her body is "not better or worse, just different."
The former Emmerdale actress felt her figure was "straight up and down" before.
But now shes jokes she's "about 3% J Lo."
It took fitness fanatic 15 weeks for fitness lover Gemma to feel ready to start exercising again with her personal trainer Steve Chambers from UP Fitness in Manchester.
The Bury actress needed an emergency cesarean when Mia's heart rate dropped after every contraction and hours after Mia's arrival she began to haemorrhage.
Gemma praised the 'incredible' NHS staff at the Royal Bolton Hospital who saved her after the ordeal-filled childbirth.
In December she shared a candid post about her C-section on Instagram.
She said: "This morning I stood and examined my C-section scar. A neat 8cm scar on my lower abdomen.
"When I was told a section was our only option and that panic button was pressed my only thought was about Mia and her safety.
"It was only at home afterwards when I felt the numbness, saw the swelling, stitches and bruising that saddened, I thought 'what a mess my tummy is'.
"Throw in walking like a T-Rex, being unable to even sit up from bed unassisted & a load of new parent hormones I felt anything but myself. I was a new mum, yet I still had to be mothered myself."
The former soap star then added what turned her sadness around.
"Now, 22 weeks later seeing Mia thrive and play and respond to her name and smile away all the time makes me realise I'd go through it all again in a heartbeat," she wrote.
"Mentally strong again and physically back to my training I feel amazing!
"Because of my Scar I have a constant reminder of the day she was born and every single day when getting dressed I run my fingers over it and smile.
"The day Mia points and ask me 'what's that mum?' I'll be able to say it's where you lived and where you came from.
"I'll probably liken it to a kangaroo carrying her joey with its head popping out."
