With celebrities like Kim Kardashian frequently posting nude or nearly-nude selfies on social media — then being praised for it — it’s surprising to discover that when it comes to ordinary women, that’s not always the case. One new mother, known simply by the name “Francie,” had her photo removed from Facebook because it depicted her giving birth to her daughter.

Francie went through childbirth with only her husband at her side to photograph the moment. Her birthing team hadn’t arrived in time because the baby came so soon, and she guided the baby out herself. The photo portrays “the single most transformative experience of her life,” Francie told Mashable.

And because of that, on her daughter’s first birthday, she wanted to share it with others. Francie posted the photo on a private Facebook group called NYC Birth, which contains hundreds of users who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, or who had given birth in New York City. Despite positive feedback from many of the users, the photo was flagged by an anonymous user as inappropriate, and Facebook had it removed.

Plenty of people expressed their support for the photo to be posted — including Elizabeth Sweeney, who is an administrator of NYC Birth. After Francie’s photo was removed, several other members of the group posted their own nude childbirth photos, many of which were also removed.

But Sweeney believes that childbirth shouldn’t be censored. “We want to support all situations, all scenarios, all birth!” Sweeney told Mashable. “Because all birth is beautiful and sexy! So this whole situation has had an extremely positive effect on our group and we are grateful it led us to make the changes that we made.”

Similar debates have centered around other online images of the female body — including breastfeeding images and breast cancer survivor photos. For example, the Instagram account of a woman who tattooed the breasts of post-mastectomy patients as a symbol of their resilience and beauty was taken down due to “inappropriate” images, but was quickly reinstated.

Despite the fact that her photo was removed and she received some negative comments, Francie remains optimistic about having posted it, and believes her sentiment can empower other women. On her MilkinMama Facebook page, she celebrated her daughter’s first birthday with a post about the experience: “Today it's been one year since I birthed this sweet girl on my bed into my own two hands before the entire home birth team could arrive. So I'm calling today my Badassaversary. We all have the ability to birth new experiences, and even new lives, for ourselves. It takes work and faith and the willingness to work with and through fear. And it's always worth it.”