“The power and intensity of your contractions cannot be stronger than you, because it is you.” ~ Unknown

“Giving birth should be your greatest achievement not your greatest fear.” ~ Jane Weideman

“Every birth a miracle, every child heaven’s gift.” ~ Jean Keaton

Okay, I’m back again to rattle some feathers. For every woman who has gone through the experience of childbirth, I appreciate you. For those who are yet to experience childbirth, I applaud you. You see, childbirth is and will always be an accomplishment that is truly very personal. Each birthing experience is different for every woman. What rattles my cage is when I see people (mostly women!!!) look down on another woman’s childbirth experience because of the birth method. I’m talking about women who give birth via Cesarean Section (CS). As a woman, I find it very disturbing to hear women ask mothers how they gave birth to their children just so they can make a snide remark about birthing via CS.

See, I’m originally from a culture that still looks down on birthing via CS. I watched a Nigerian movie recently and a pregnant woman (who already had two children via CS) was told her third baby was breeched and she would have to undergo CS when it was time for delivery. This woman dashes off to her pastor and relayed this information to him. The pastor asks her to pray to reject such proclamations as she will not deliver via CS again instead she will give birth naturally (vaginal birth).  This woman embarks on a praying frenzy and against the advise of the doctors, stopped all prenatal visits to the hospital and went to church for prayers instead. Her pastor at one point told her to sow a seed and she would have a vaginal birth because this was what the Spirit revealed to him. One of the female gynecologists visited this pregnant woman several times and tried to convince her birth via CS was not from the devil but because of the mindset of the pregnant woman, her family, neighbors, and pastor, she did not heed to this gynecologist’s advice. At one point, her mother-in-law visited her and rudely informed the daughter-in-law that her son did not have money to throw on her birth anymore as she did not give birth like a “normal” woman. Eventually, the pregnant lady was taken to church on the day of her delivery and prayers commenced on her to have vaginal birth. Unfortunately, by the time the pastor realized he had NOT heard from the Spirit about how the woman would give birth, it was too late. The pregnant woman died. All in her quest to please those around her and prove she was a “normal” woman.

Why do some Nigerian women shame mothers who give birth via CS? Each woman carries her child/ren in the womb for nine months and at the end brings forth life. Should it really matter how that child came out from the mother? Or should the emphasis be on the fact that both mother and child passed through a life and death experience and both came out alive? Shame on every woman who has ever looked down on a woman’s birthing experience because of the method of delivery. God has given doctors the wisdom to deal with various birthing issues. Mothers, fathers, husbands, sisters, friends, and loved ones, encourage expectant mothers to adhere to the gynecologists advise.

Now I know some of you will say “But I have faith that God can change my situation and make me have vaginal birth.” You forget it is also the same God who gave the doctors the wisdom to bring forth the child via CS as well. The end result of pregnancy should be the joy of being a mother. Full Stop. Not the method by which the child came out. My sister told me of a T.V show she watched where a woman stated that after she became a mother, she felt she could take on the world. The female T.V presenter interrupts by asking if she gave birth naturally or through CS. What was the point of that question Ms. Presenter? Should she not feel like she could take on the world if she gave birth through CS? Why and how could a fellow woman on national T.V ask such a ridiculous question? To prove what point?

In summation, to those Nigerians and others worldwide who assume women who have vaginal birth should be placed on a pedestal while women who give birth via CS should be looked down on and made to feel less like a mother, I say this “give yourselves a resounding mouth watering slap to reset your brains to help you #supportallbirthingexperience, #festivalofslaps, #resetyourbrain.”