It seems like moms will argue about just about anything these days. Whether it’s how you feed your child, how you and your child sleep, or whether you use a carrier, the conversation often devolves into judgement and hurt feelings.
Even how you give birth to your child isn’t safe. Women who have given birth via c-section are often made to feel like the way they gave birth isn’t the “right” way, or that they took the “easy way out.” However, as The Mirror points out, women who have had to go under the knife usually don’t have much choice in the matter.
One mother bravely shared a raw photo of her belly with a not-yet-healed c-section scar to silence everyone who insists that the giving birth via cesarian isn’t really “giving birth”.
“But whether you believe this or not, I gave birth to my baby”
“I've decided to post this picture to see if it may make people understand that despite what our birth plans might say, sometimes we don't get a choice. I didn't get a choice,” wrote Jodie Shaw in the Birth Without Fear Facebook page.
Shaw went on to say that she had a fibroid “the size of a melon” on her cervix. A fibroid is a non-cancerous growth in the uterus made of muscle and tissue. That and her low-lying placenta meant that she was left with “no ordinary c-section scar”.
“But whether you believe this or not, I gave birth to my baby,” she continued.
Read the rest of Shaw's brave post on the next page.
"Think about the fact that given the choice, they probably wouldn't have chosen this but had no choice"
The procedure kept her from losing a “life-threatening amount of blood” and ensured that her baby would come out “healthy and unharmed.”
“So next time you judge someone for not doing what you consider to be ‘giving birth’ please take a minute to think about why they may have had to deliver that way,” Shaw wrote. “Think about the fact that given the choice, they probably wouldn't have chosen this but had no choice. Why would you choose a major operation and 6 weeks of recovery?”
Several women came forward in the comments to show their support for Shaw, sharing their stories as well.
To Shaw and to other C-Section moms: don’t let anyone make you feel less because you didn’t give birth in the traditional way. What matters most is that you and your baby are healthy.
READ: The powerful C-section scar photo that got the world talking
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