‘There’s nothing easy about a cesarean’: mum responds to criticism over C section

Does the phrase 'too posh to push' fill you with rage?

One Aussie mum has had enough of C-section shaming and is speaking out about the criticism she's faced. Fitness coach Chontel Duncan gave birth to her second child, a baby boy named Swayde, last month.

A post shared by SNAP CHAT ?chontelduncan (@chontelduncan) on Sep 27, 2017 at 11:23pm PDT

She had had a difficult labour with her first child, Jeremiah, that ended in an emergency C-section, an experience she described as scary. "I had labored for over a day and was extremely exhausted," she told CafeMom. "Having to care for a newborn after such a traumatic experience was challenging, but the excitement overrides those feelings and emotions. "The second cesarean was booked in due to the positioning of the baby, therefore I walked myself into hospital feeling energized and fresh."

A post shared by SNAP CHAT ?chontelduncan (@chontelduncan) on Sep 20, 2017 at 6:50pm PDT

Her honesty and large following (she has over 600,000 followers on Instagram) meant there were plenty of critics, with some berating her for 'taking the easy option'. "I feel those comments [are] extremely offensive. I also believe this has become almost a trophy situation to some, where if you don't push your baby out your vagina and use no drugs, you didn't complete the job correctly."

A post shared by SNAP CHAT ?chontelduncan (@chontelduncan) on Oct 23, 2017 at 11:12pm PDT

"There's nothing easy about a cesarean," she wrote in a recent Instagram post. "The tugging, the pushing, the sounds, the smells, the feeling of no control, the fear of something going wrong, the recovery, it all terrifies me. "But I would do it all again in a heartbeat."