For some reason, some people believe the true test of motherhood is the ability to push out a baby through the vagina. A caesarean delivery is seen as taking the easy way out, not minding that there are certain situations that necessitate a c-section; a major life-threatening surgical procedure at that.
It was to such people that a Missouri mum Raye Lee addressed her epic Facebook post which has now gone viral.
In the post she talks about how a 38-hour labour put her baby in distress, and led to the need for an emergency c-section.
Furthermore, recovering from the major abdominal surgery wasn’t exactly a “super easy peasy” experience.
“This was the most painful thing I have experienced in my life,” said Raye, who posted raw pictures of her surgical scar.
“I now belong to a badass tribe of mamas with the scar to prove that I had a baby cut out of me and lived to tell the tale ( because you can die from this, you know ).
“Having a shrieking infant pulled out of an incision that is only 5 inches long, but is cut and shredded and pulled until it rips apart through all of your layers of fat, muscle, and organs (which they lay on the table next to your body, in order to continue to cut until they reach your child) is a completely different experience than I had imagined my sons birth to be.
“This was not pleasant. It still isn’t. You use your core muscles for literally everything… even sitting down, imagine not being able to use them because they have literally been shredded and mangled by a doctor and not being able to repair them for 6+ weeks because your body has to do it naturally.
“When that first nurse asked you to try getting out of bed and the ripping pain of a body cut apart and stitched back together seared through you, you realized the irony of anybody who talks about it being the “easy way out”. So fuck you and fuck how you see what I did.
“I am the strongest woman, that I know. Not only for myself, but for my beautiful son… and I would honestly go through this every single day just to make sure I am able to see his smiling face.
The post which has been shared more than 24900 times resonated with a lot of people who agreed that it was unfair to pit a C-section delivery against a vaginal delivery. Both are equally life-threatening and painful experiences done out of love.
A mother is a mother, regardless of her birthing method.
