Erin O’Connor says Instagram removed her pregnancy photo for nudity breach | Erin O’Connor
A black and white photo of heavily pregnant Erin O’Connor touching her baby bump with a look of maternal bliss on her face.
For the 48-year-old model, who works for brands such as Dior, Versace, Alexander McQueen and Chanel, she has “the abundance of life right there” at her fingertips while pregnant. But instagram it was just a naked photo of a woman’s body.
O’Connor revealed on Friday that after she posted the photo on the social media platform to celebrate Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom on March 15, Instagram removed her post for violating its “nudity rules.”
O’Connor said Meta, the owner of Instagram, messaged her and explained that the photo was deleted because it violated these rules.
The message included a note about “freedom of expression”: “We want you to share freely with others. We only remove things or restrict people to keep the community respectful and safe.”
Alongside the photo, taken by photographer Nick Knight in 2014, O’Connor wrote a post paying tribute to “everyone who continues to nurture, support, love and protect children (close to home and around the world) in every way, shape and form.” Both have been removed.
Last year, shortly before Mother’s Day, on March 30, 2025, I shared the same photo next to another from the same photo shoot and a poem: “We can sit like this / You and me / My son / A few more seconds / Because what else / What’s the big deal?” This post has not been removed.
O’Connor told Meta that she complained that this year’s decision to ban beautiful photos of her pregnant body was an example of double standards, while women are “over-sexualised every day”.
Speaking to an audience at the National Gallery who had gathered to hear her interviewed for the gallery’s monthly Picture This series, she added: “It is an incredible feeling to see a heavily pregnant, naked woman perceived as the aggressor when she stands with all her might, her body at its most extraordinary, embodying her innate ability to grow, be born and sustain a new life.”
He described Instagram’s ban as “very frustrating” and added: “It’s a shame that this is offensive in the 21st century, yet there are these very sensual and erotic images of women in galleries everywhere.”
O’Connor was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she posed for the photo 12 years ago, the first time she had allowed herself to be photographed naked.
“[My son] Albert arrived a few weeks later and I did the interview to accompany these photos while he was in labor in his hospital bed. “It was a nice distraction, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “It wasn’t really about the nudes, it was about the expectation… of the abundance of life being there.”
The model recently celebrated her 30th anniversary in the industry and revealed that she was entering perimenopause. She was once described by Karl Lagerfeld as “one of the best models in the world” but told the audience at the National Gallery that she had spent much of her career feeling uncomfortable in her body.
He said it was only in the last three years that he was able to accept himself: “It took 45 years. I’ve lived my three years well and honestly, and that’s the greatest thing.”
Meta and O’Connor have been contacted for comment.
