https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/mum-told-shes-not-real-24748333?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_campaign=daily_evening_newsletter2&utm_medium=emailMum told she's 'not a real mother' after giving birth by Caesarean section
Mum-of-two Sunny was unprepared for the stigma surrounding C-sections before she was forced to undergo emergency surgery during the birth of her son Axel
By Emma Rosemurgey Audience Writer
16:59, 12 Aug 2021
Any mum who gives birth is an absolute hero - whether it's a home birth, a traditional birth or by C-section. So, it's hard to believe that anyone would ever think to tell a new mum she was "not a real mother" due to the way in which she delivered her child. Sadly, that's exactly what happened to 23-year-old Sunny from Australia, who was forced to deliver by C-section due to complications which arose during labour. "I was progressing with my dilation and it looked like everything was on track for a natural birth. But it dragged on, and the doctors warned that I'd get an infection or have other complications if I waited any longer. So I had to have a caesarean," Sunny recalled.
"I didn't want to have one, it wasn't in my plan. But I knew it was what I had to do to deliver my baby safely."
Fortunately, baby Axel was delivered happy and healthy, leaving parents Sunny and 27-year-old Dillon overjoyed. However, their happy newborn baby bubble was quickly burst when someone rudely remarked that Sunny had "taken the easy way out" and couldn't possibly be "a real mother" due to giving birth by C-section. "I had no idea of the onslaught of comments that were to follow in regards to the C-section. There are really negative attitudes surrounding it," she continued.
"I had a nurse tell me to 'get over' my pain, and that other women have it way worse because they gave birth naturally and 'can't even sit down'. I've had other people tell me that I've had the easy way out, that I didn't do anything and just laid there. They told me I didn't really give birth to my baby. The worst comment I received was from someone who said 'how can you call yourself a mum? You didn't give birth to him.' That really hurt."
For anyone who has ever had a Caesarean, or knows someone who has, will know it's far from easy and requires up to six weeks recovery, with some mums unable to walk or lift anything for several weeks. "I don't know how people can think like that. A caesarean is major surgery. You are cut open and sewed back up, it is not fun," Sunny continued.
After experiencing first hand the ignorance and the stigmas surrounding C-sections, the mum-of-two decided to share her experience on social media, and was inundated with comments from women who had gone through the same thing. "It is so disheartening to hear that so many mums have been made to feel like they are somehow less than other mothers because they had a C-section," she said.
"There is so much stigma around it and it really need to stop. Women are bringing humans into the world every day and there is no right or wrong way to do it."
Sunny added: "We need to be supporting and celebrating each other instead of having an argument about a surgery that saves lives. In most cases, a C-section is performed to save the life of mum and baby. It literally can come down to a matter of life and death. Everyone's story is different. As long as a baby is born happy and healthy, nothing else matters."
