Before pregnancy, many women are unclear what giving birth really means

Discussion on the net
Women report what they would have liked to know about the birth before pregnancy

When a woman vomits in a movie, it is immediately clear to both the audience and her that she must be pregnant. Only a little later her amniotic sac will burst, the man rushes with her to the clinic and with a single contraction she presses the baby out. Cut: Happy mother, with top make-up and already slim again, holds the newborn in her arms and breastfeeds it, which of course works on the first try. This is how you know the course of a pregnancy when it comes to Hollywood. In reality, however, everything usually works very differently.

But often only those women who were already pregnant know this. Because some aspects of pregnancy and childbirth simply nobody tells you – you don’t even read them in guides for expectant parents. They certainly do not appear in films, series or novels. Several women now exchanged information on the Internet and reported on the Reddit platform of the rather unpleasant moments around the birth that they would have liked to have known about beforehand.

Hollywood hides large parts of pregnancy

“The stomach doesn’t go away right after the birth,” says a woman there, dispelling the Hollywood myth. “It can take days, weeks, or months to go away, and the majority of women have excess skin, stretch marks, etc. after that – which is perfectly normal.” Another remembers the unexpected effects of being pregnant: “One Pregnancy causes massive havoc in the body. You can lose teeth and hair. Some people get gestational diabetes, which is a real danger. “

And even after the birth, there were occasional unwanted after-effects: “Postpartum depressions exist, and even if you have already given birth to several children, the next baby can hit you hard without warning,” reports one mother. Another adds: “Nowhere do they show you that you can get anxiety and depression before birth.”

Health hazards that nobody anticipates

It also becomes unpleasant when the pregnant woman becomes ill and cannot take the right medication because this would harm the child. “I caught a bad cold during my first pregnancy. I was eight months old and couldn’t take any real medicine. Because I was pregnant, I had to sit it out and the cough got pretty bad. I broke two ribs because I was like that coughed violently. There is better than having someone kick your broken ribs from the inside while you cough non-stop. “

Another mother asks: “In movies you always see morning sickness, cravings, back pain and waddling. But where are the pregnant characters with the worst acne in their lives? The ones who can barely walk because their hips are about to break in three? The ones who gain 25 kilos? ” One woman agrees, adding, “They never show the unglamorous things we experience after giving birth. I had to wear adult diapers for several weeks. Even now I can’t sneeze or laugh too hard or I might pee my pants to pee.”

Realistically depicts pregnancies!

And there is one more truth that more mothers want in films, series and books: “I have the feeling that babies never look disgusting in films,” writes one woman. “When they’re born and given their mother, no baby is completely clean, clumsy, and laughing. They’re born as little gremlins, with lots of phlegm. Plus, every newborn I’ve seen was a little greenish or bluish. “

As uncomfortable – and often actually dangerous to health – pregnancy and childbirth are for many women, none of those affected on Reddit would have decided against having a child, even if they had been better informed beforehand. However, it would have helped them better prepare for all of these things. That is why we as a society should all ensure that future pregnancies are portrayed openly, honestly and realistically.

Sources: Reddit, “Bored Panda”

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