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This mum explains why it is far from “easy” to have a C-section.

Many people believe that when a mother delivers her child via C-section instead of vaginally, they are taking the easy way out. WRONG!

New mum, Raye Lee, recently discovered for herself the brutal truth when she gave birth to her first child. After experiencing 38 hours of labour she had an emergency C-section when her baby’s heart stopped with every contraction.

Along with photos of her scars the Missouri mum posted an honest message on Facebook .

*Language warning

“Oh. A c-section? So you didn’t actually give birth. It must have been nice to take the easy way out like that.”

Ah, yes. My emergency c-section was absolutely a matter of convenience. It was really convenient to be in labour for 38 hours before my baby went into distress and then every contraction was literally STOPPING his HEART.

Being told at the beginning that I was displaying great progress and wouldn’t need a caesarean section… and then being told that I was being prepped for major abdominal surgery was not a shock at all. It had nothing to do with the fact that I physically couldn’t because I was given no other choice to save the life of my child. Oh, and that surgery is super easy peasy to recover from.

 WRONG, That is all sarcasm.

 This was the most painful thing I have experienced in my life.
 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.”

Her post was shared over 16K times.

Raye said she is now receiving loads of messages from women thanking her for her post, “I’m now getting messages (WAY too MANY, haha) from people, mothers, and non-mothers, saying how my post has empowered them to embrace their mummy scars and/or how they once thought it WAS the easy way out… and now their opinions have changed JUST BECAUSE OF MY POST.”

Can you relate to Raye’s experience?

Share your comments below.

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  • I’m not sure myself or any of my friends would ever think that having a caesarian is the easy way out. There is no easy way out from childbirth! Between us all we’ve had a mix of different ways of giving birth and we’ve never judged each other for their choice (or how it ended up). I think mums’ need to remember that we’re all on the same team here.

    Reply

  • Shredded and mangled by the doctor? Oh dear. Lovely choice of thankful words

    Reply

  • I had 2 C sections both were absolutely not my choice but a decision taken by the Doctors.
    By my daughter I went through the pain relief when I was on the table, while they were cutting I started to feel everything. My body reacted hugely on the pain and my blood pressure went down way low. Because they had to give extra pain relief next my body was not able to cope well with the extra substancy and I spent many many hours in recovery, enormous headaches, under temperature and extremely low blood pressure. But once I was through that I was fine and recovered super quick, in fact I was within a week after my C-section doing my shoppings on my bike. Idem with the recovery of the C-section with my son.
    We’re all different in how quick we heal and probably how much pain we can feel & endure.

    Reply

  • Great post this is so true. I had 2 c-sections myself and it certainly is not the easy way out! One thing that strikes me is that anyone who has major surgery gets therapy after surgery to rebuild the muscles. Not with a c-section! Almost 16 years later and I still have issues with my abdominal muscles from my c-sections! It’s not right!

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  • I had a c section too. I don’t care if anyone judges me because of that. It was the only way my baby was coming out alive

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  • I have had 2 emergency c-sections and have given anything to have a normal birth but that was not to be for the well being of me and my children. There is nothing easy about it and it is very painful.MN

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  • An appendics scar is painful enough. When you walk around you feel as though where your clothing touches it is on fire for a few days.
    Having to be so careful what you do for a few weeks until the scar has healed would be so difficult. Not being allowed to lift anything, raise your arms too high must be so frustrating. My appendics wasn’t keyhole and 6 weeks of restricted movement just about bored me to tears. After 4 weeks I started wanting to do things I knew i wasn’t supposed to do. I didn’t have a baby to care for or extra washing mounting up.

    Reply

  • i love this post its brilliant, i had two born the ‘normal way’ and my last by emergency c-section and i also know how this is most certainly not the easy way. my first two labours were both over 24hrs but i finally had them, my last was only 14 hours but ended in emergency c-section, and i can tell you right now recovering from c-secion is sososo much worse.

    Reply

  • Never ever have considered a c section easy. Vaginal and C section births may all be difficult and complicated and need recovery time. I just hope all mums get the care and support they need and wish them every success with their babies.


    • It is always such a shame when people have to compare and judge other women on birth experiences. There can be pain for all ways of birthing children and it is not helpful to say one way hurts more than the other as every experience is individual. Women need to support each other.

    Reply

  • I have had 2 emergency caesars, the first was torture but the second was easier, my babies ended up in special care nursery as prems, I don’t know how new mums cope when they can’t move!

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  • My sister had a c-section that took so long to heal and even opened up again in one section and was infected! She wished she’d had a natural birth, now she deals with scarring and abdominal pains to this day. Her son is now 6 years old!

    Reply

  • I have never thought a c section was the easy way out. I had 3 X 2cm scars when I had my appendix out and they hurt like hell. No way could I cope with a cut right across my entire belly! Ouch!!!

    Reply

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