Mum criticises her daughter for wanting an epidural

This is so stressful.

Towards the end of your pregnancy your midwife will generally help you draft up a birth plan, for when you go into labour. This birth plan will detail who you would like to have in the room and what method of pain relief, if any, that you want to use. These choices are extremely personal and should be up to each individual mum to decide upon herself. The last thing that any expectant mum wants is to have her choices shamed on a daily basis, which is unfortunately what happened to this new mum. The upset mum wrote to Reddit for advice on the stressful situation that she has found herself in;

"My mom helped with my birth plan, and continuously said that I shouldn't have an epidural, that I should experience birth."

The poster went on to say that her mother said she should experience natural birth and that if she took pain relief that she wouldn't be a real mother. Harsh.

"This conversation happened almost every day, until I went into labour at 35 weeks."

Due to complications the mother required a C-section and from going through one myself I can tell you they are anything but easy on your body. Unfortunately, her mother did not see things that way remarking 'I'm so glad you get to feel the birth now because you didn't get to do it naturally.' The new mum was of course upset and asked her mum to leave. She went on to say that since the incident she hasn't heard from her mother and that other relatives like her father have told her to forgive her despite the fact that her mother has not apologised. Just about everyone on Reddit wrote to say they support her and that her mum should have been more supportive and I agree. Pregnancy is stressful enough without the people close to you putting you down. Hopefully the grandmother in question can see the error of her ways and the two of them can patch things up.