Sydney, April 27 (IANS): The popular photo-sharing site Instagram has announced it will allow photos of breastfeeding, stretch marks or post-mastectomy scarring, media reports said.

Under pressure from the online community, Instagram updated its community guidelines which now allow mothers to post such photos.

"We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don't allow nudity on Instagram," Instagram's new guidelines read.

"This includes photos, videos and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks".

"It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too," they further read.

Last week, a Facebook photo of a mother breastfeeding her child while on the toilet seat went viral.

Elisha Wilson Beach, wife of TV crime serials "Sons of Anarchy" and "Third Watch" actor Michael Beach, posted the photo and wrote: "This is motherhood and it ain't always pretty."

The picture sparked off a debate from parents online.

While some parents posted against it, others defended the mother.

Later, Elisha Beach clarified in a post: "This is my picture and yes I am breastfeeding. I shared it on Instagram. Well this is reality and so many mothers are doing this exact thing right now. Motherhood ain't pretty but then that's what makes it so beautiful."

Instagram's guidelines are now similar to its owner Facebook which also clarified its community guidelines last month to allow breastfeeding photos.