Melissa McCarthy Says Motherhood Helped With Body Acceptance

It’s not too uncommon to find women are less critical of their body- in ways- after they’ve borne a child.

While there’s a whole new set of concerns that often follow the birth of a baby- perhaps less perky breasts, or a scar from a c-section- the whole process of creating a new life and bringing it into the world can be profoundly moving. Pregnancy can also really put a small amount of thigh-jiggle into perspective when contrasted with the whole miracle of life thing.

Actress Melissa McCarthy of Bridesmaids and Mike & Molly says the process of becoming a mom influenced her own opinion of her body. And while acceptance is part of the struggle, McCarthy- who is mom to a 4-year-old and 18-month-old with husband Ben Falcone- describes her frustration in dressing her post-baby body. McCarthy says:

“Trying to find stuff that’s still fashion-forward in my size is damn near impossible… It’s either for like a 98-year-old woman or a 14-year-old hooker, and there is nothing in the middle.”

Of course, being a celebrity has some perks that civilians are not as easily privy to. McCarthy describes wearing one of her own dresses, and her path to designing clothes that- you know, actually look and feel good:

“I designed [a dress] and I worked with Daniella Pearl, who is an amazing couture dressmaker. I just didn’t see anything that I liked out there… I went to college for clothing and textiles and always thought I would design women’s clothing. Then [I] ended up in New York thinking I was going to go FIT and I started doing standup. So how A went to B, I don’t know!”

Next year, the pretty plus-size actress will appear in Judd Apatow’s This is Forty.