Salma Hayek 'completely disfigured' while pregnant

Salma Hayek enjoyed seeing herself "completely disfigured" while pregnant.

The actress and her husband Francois-Henri Pinault have five-year-old daughter Valentina together. She put on around 23kg when she was pregnant, which was a difficult experience for the star.

Hayek eventually begin to realise her changing body was a positive thing and not a cause for concern.

"I gained so much weight, I got an opportunity to see myself completely disfigured in many different ways - for a very good reason - and I don't regret it for a second," she told Glamour magazine's Glam Belleza Latina.

"That's when I started appreciating my body. The things that I used to criticise, they were not that bad after all."

The 46-year-old star is quick to point out that she did struggle with her changing shape at first. She partly believes that is due to the pressure society puts on women.

"We've got to fight for our confidence every day in modern life because we live in a society that is very harsh to women," she said. "You have to be smart and successful and a good mother and beautiful and young and skinny forever."

Hayek also discussed what she values in her life. Although she loves her work and is proud of her successful movie career, it's her family and friends which are the most important thing to her.

"Success is happiness. If you've found the right companion for life, a good relationship with loved ones, if you are healthy - my God, you are immensely successful," she said.

"A lot of women think that this is the [age] when you start getting depressed. To that I say, 'No, no, no, no, no!' I'm having the best time of my life."

- AAP