I loved giving birth.
No, seriously – I really, really did. Yes, it hurt – but oh my God was it the most intense, amazing, out-of-body, empowering experience I have ever had. Twice. I am so grateful that I got to give birth the way I did, and for the way everyone around me, my midwife, my husband, the hospital I gave birth in, all there just helping me deliver my babies into this world in a way that was so natural and beautiful and so, so unforgettable.
Having always had an OK relationship with my body – like most women, I guess, being pregnant and giving birth, made me more than ever realise how amazing a woman’s body really is. Seriously – we can grow, birth and nurture a baby – babies – and when you actually stop to think about it, it will no doubt almost make you cry at how utterly amazing and powerful this really is.
Labouring, those minutes, hours, sometimes even days, waiting for your body to do its job, waiting to meet your baby – it is hard. It is intense and painful and sometimes scary and overwhelming too. But mama – you are so, so strong. You will amaze yourself with what your body can do.
And recently I came across this image that some midwife somewhere had shared to Facebook about what it actually looks like when your cervix dilates, making it possible for your baby to pass through the birth canal and arrive into this world.
Just take a look – and tell me you are not in awe too at just what us women can do:
Now – who really rule the world? ?
