Serena Williams Shares Empowering Message About Not Having a "Picture-Perfect" Body

Serena Williams is laying it all on the court.

The tennis legend—who welcomed her second daughter Adira River with husband Alexis Ohanian last August—recently shared insight into her postpartum journey.

"Loving yourself is essential," Serena began her Feb. 12 Instagram, alongside a photo of herself in a bikini and cradling her 6-month-old. "I find that I have to remind myself of that self-love through all different stages in my life."

For the 42-year-old, practicing self-love includes not sweating over a snap back.

"Right now I love that my body is not picture perfect," she shared. "I love that I smell like milk—that milk sustains @adiraohanian. I love getting to know a new version of my body. It is a change, but it's a change that has been well worth it."

Serena—who also shares daughter Olympia, 6, with the Reddit co-founder—concluded her post with an all-star reminder. "So start this week," she added, "knowing that you are loved, and that starts with you."

The mom of two has been candid about her motherhood journey, documenting the highs, the lows and everything in-between—like the time she used breastmilk to heal her skin.

"I completely got burned under my eye," she said in a Dec. 3 TikTok. "It works for my kid...They say put breastmilk on everything and I have extra, so I'm gonna try it for a week and see how it goes."

In the caption of her video, she offered an update, noting, "After a week of using my breastmilk under my eye, it worked!"

But not every motherhood moment has been as sweet as breastmilk.

Last November, the retired athlete opened up about her mental health struggles. "I am not ok today," she posted on X at the time. "And that's ok to not be ok. No one is ok every single day. If you are not ok today I'm with you. There's always tomorrow. Love you."

She later posted a selfie of her and Adira, writing, "This makes me so happy."

Serena is one of the many celebrity moms who has detailed her postpartum experience. Keep reading to see how other parents have navigated everything from body changes to breastfeeding.

"I think my breastfeeding journey was also very empowering because it was so difficult," Keke told Essence in an interview published Aug. 21. "And I wanted to give up at so many different points, but I just kept pushing myself and kept trying to figure it out."

She added, "The relationship I had with my son during that process empowered me to get back up and do things for myself again."

The Game alum, who shares son Cree, 12, and daughter Cairo, 5, with ex-husband Cory Hardrict, opened up about her struggles with breastfeeding. "When I had Cree, I was struggling to breastfeed him," she wrote in an Aug. 10 Instagram. I was only able to breastfeed for 3 months before having to switch to formula. And during the second time, I found that I was able to breastfeed Cairo for 13 months." 

She continued, "Nonetheless, the journey was difficult...if you are struggling with breastfeeding, I want you to know that it is more than okay to feed your children formula. As long as your children are fed, loved, happy, and supported that's all that matters."

The House Bunny actress snapped a photo of herself nursing daughter Louetta, who she shares with musician Derek Richard Thomas, during a family beach day in August 2023.

In a carousel of Instagram pictures, the former Victoria's Secret model shared a photo of herself breastfeeding her and Jason Statham's baby girl, Isabella. 

In May 2022, Ashley Graham shared a photo of herself feeding her twin boys, Malachi Ervin and Roman Ervin, at the same time. She captioned the post, "double fisting (peep the whacky tan lines)."

In March 2021, the Victoria's Secret model shared a pic of herself on Instagram breastfeeding her baby girl, Tuulikki Joan Daly. A couple of hours later, she shared the same photo on her Instagram Story, writing, "Find it interesting the amount of dms I get from men who get offended when you post a photo breastfeeding... Like, why is the most natural thing so offending to you? Breasts literally excists [sic] so we can feed our children [red heart emoji]."

The Twilight star opened up about breastfeeding her 20-month-old daughter Bodhi Soleil Reed Somerhalder in an Instagram post in 2019. "To be honest, I have no idea how long her and I will be on this journey together. I follow her lead, and she tells me exactly what she needs," she wrote.

"little bear," Kehlani tweeted in 2019, along with photos of her and baby Adeya.

"On a lighter note.... @acrebaja was bomb," the actress shared on Instagram while kicking off 2019, after welcoming her second child, daughter Banks. 

"Feeding time for the little munchkin," Robin Thicke's girlfriend wrote by a video of her feeding their daughter Mia. 

The actress breastfed son Grey, writing on Instagram in 2017, "BREASTFEEDING=JUDGEMENT FREE ZONE!"

The Hills alum and mom of one told her Instagram followers in 2016 that her sister, Casey Loza, is "always capturing me in moments. #momonthego."

The actress is all smiles as she snaps a selfie of her feeding her little one.

The model mom of two encourages other moms to share #breastfeedingselfie pics.

The Bravo star astutely pointed out in 2016 that "this #breastfeeding stuff is no joke."

The actress shared this photo in honor of daughter Elizabella's first birthday in 2015. "Happy Birthday, my beautiful Elizabella. You've taught me that my heart has no end. You were the missing piece to my soul. Thank you for choosing me," she wrote.