Pregnant Ashley Graham praised for nude photo showing changing body and stretch marks

Model Ashley Graham, currently pregnant with her first child, has been praised for sharing a nude picture.

The American plus-size model, 31, shared a close-up picture of her naked torso with her 8.8 million followers on Instagram on Sunday night.

She captioned it, “same same but a little different”, which is likely a reference to her changing pregnant body.

READ MORE: Ashley Graham says she’s had to ‘work harder’ than other models

The mum-to-be’s fans were quick to praise her stretch marks.

Celebrity personal trainer Kira Stokes commented on the image, writing: “BETTER. EVERY. DAY”. Victoria’s Secret model Lily Aldridge also responded, posting a series of heart emojis.

Others wrote, “Thank you for being real”, and “I’m in the same boat :-) my daughter to be adds to my stretch marks collection every day LOL but she’s going to be totally worth it.”

While it is unclear whether these stretch marks are a side effect of pregnancy for Graham or whether she had them earlier, the close-up, unedited shot fits with the model’s body positive brand.

Stretch marks are common for pregnant women (as well as among the general population), according to the NHS, and often appear on the stomach and upper thighs.

A proponent for the US-based Health at Every Size movement as well as the wider body positivity movement, Graham in 2016 was the first plus-size model to appear in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.

READ MORE: Amy Schumer celebrates her 'warm' and 'soft' post-baby body

She has previously shared photos of her cellulite on Instagram, and back in 2015 she did a TED Talk on body positivity.

The post comes in the wake of Graham’s pregnancy announcement.

She shared four days ago that she is expecting her first child with husband Justin Ervin, whom she married in 2010.

Graham’s not the first woman to publicly showcase the effects pregnancy has on the body. She follows in the footsteps of Doreen Ching, who in 2018 went viral after she bravely shared an image of her stretch marks in acceptance of the fact that her post-baby body would never look the same.