This blogger got so real about her “broken vagina” after childbirth
In the event that anyone needs a reminder about all of the stresses mothers go through during and after giving birth, an Australian blogger recently got extremely real about the pain she experienced while delivering her first baby. Zoe George runs The Subtle Mummy blog, but her recounting of what happens during childbirth is anything but.
Taking to her blog, the mother of two gave her readers a timeline of events that totally explains why some people are legitimately scared to have kids.
Most telling of all, George uses the words “broken vagina” to describe her post-childbirth body. And while that particular two-word combination might make us a little woozy, we’re also SO GLAD George is being so honest and open about her experiences.
She gets right to the point, writing,
"This is a candid, telling of events that transpired the night of March 14th leading into March 15th, which resulted in the birth of my first child and the 'broken vagina.'"
But brace yourselves. She continues by describing how she went from attempting to have a natural birth to welcoming some medicinal pain relief after eight hours of trying to manage the contractions with breathing exercises. Afterwards, George reveals that the doctors actually had to tear her vagina before they were able to finally deliver her baby, Ari. George then candidly said her vagina resembled a “hamburger, more like a whopper,” adding,
"If Frankenstein's monster had a vagina, I know exactly what it would have looked like. *shudders at the memory*. I needed about four of those vayjayjay ice poles and three overnight maxi pads to contain that joker's smile."
Frankstein’s vagina, y’all. Let those words sink in for a second.
After bringing her baby home, George dealt with scar tissue from her stitches (ouch times a million). She also struggled to breastfeed, pee, and have sex, in large part due to a case of vaginismus, a vaginal condition in which muscles around the vagina contract and basically refuse to allow anything inside.
The silver lining in this story is that George was able to heal and give birth a second time, apparently because childbirth makes a total badass out of you.
George didn’t hold anything back for her readers, and we appreciate her brutally honest details. All too often, new moms endure so much pressure to bounce back after giving birth, but we’re hoping that having open conversations about the not-so-pretty side of labor and delivery will continue to educate and inform, and also encourage new mothers to give themselves and their bodies permission to recover after performing the heroic feat of bringing babies into this world.
