‘Sh*t needs to heal down there’: Mum-to-be’s post on maternity leave

Maternity leave is not a holiday.

This we know. We're all well aware of the trials and tribulations that go alongside the before and after periods of bringing a child into the world. However, there are some people who don't understand that pregnancy is actually not a walk in the park. Those people work in the same place as Reddit user 'theaeater', and they don't understand why someone would need a good bit of recovery time after pushing a human being out of their vagina. So she took to the internet to vent about pregnancy not being seen under "the same lens as any other medical condition."

 "Some folks seem to think it's just "time off for the new mom," rather than a genuine physical recovery period after a fairly traumatic, physical medical procedure. ""Why does it have to be two months, though?" Because shit needs to heal down there, and it takes time?"

Theaeater also said that while being pregnant in work, she has had to ask for some concessions about not attending certain events. Instead of it being acceptable to not want to attend a work trip, Theaeater said co-workers acted like they were doing her a favour for taking her place.

"Can you imagine if you had some other kind of serious medical condition -- like a tumor, or a serious infection, or auto-immune disease -- and you declined going on a business trip so as not to to aggravate your illness, and being told it was a personal favor to "let you not go"? "Or if your doctor told you should take a few weeks off of work to recover from a surgery or chemo and people asked you "why does it have to be two months, though?"

While Theaeater said she knows being pregnant is a joyful thing, it's also physically difficult and should be treated as such.

"I don't think I'm acting entitled to the world revolving around my belly, but I also don't feel like apologizing for trying to manage all my responsibilities and priorities INCLUDING my pregnancy."

We don't think you should be apologising either Theaeater. Being pregnant is difficult enough without having co-workers questioning your recovery period and making you feel bad for missing staff trips. Maybe they should try pushing a baby out of them some time.