For some women, having a C-section can be very difficult emotionally and physically. Some of us got to the idea that we would have a natural birth, but when it was time for our babies to be born, for some reason, we ended up having a C-section.
Nor does it help that society continues to preach absurd ideas about having a C-section, such as saying that you are less mother or that a C-section is the easy way out, when certainly none of this is true.
In a beautiful and impressive photo shoot, a mother of three and a photographer show us that having a cesarean is not synonymous with weakness and that does not mean that your body has failed.
Photographer Nathalie McCain is the creator of "The Honest Body Project"(The project of the honest body) and responsible for the powerful images you will see below. With The Honest Body ProjectNathalie seeks to help women to learn to love their body, making photo sessions to mothers of all sizes and who are usually accompanied by beautiful stories of self-love.
In her most recent session "My body did not fail me", participated Jacqueline, a mother of three who tells the moving story of her three children, whom she managed to conceive despite having been diagnosed with endometriosis .
"When I was 24, doctors found that my left ovary was extremely enlarged. This led to months of tests, doctors, oncologists and surgery"the mother begins to tell on Natalie's website. She mentions that in her family there was a history of ovarian cancer, however the doctors could not identify exactly what was happening or why she was growing so rapidly. After surgery, was diagnosed with aggressive endometriosis. "I have a scar from my belly button to my pelvic bone and a tube and ovary less".
"They told my boyfriend (current husband) that if we planned to have children it would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, and that with how advanced my endometriosis was, he could see me in need of losing my other ovary or needing a hysterectomy one day.". One year after being diagnosed and shortly before the wedding, Jacqueline and her husband decided they were going to beat the clock and try to have children. They decided that they would have four in all, because their endometriosis is like a time bomb and they didn't want to regret it later.
"It took us four years to have our oldest daughter, after five days in labor we ended up with a C-section. I heard many other mothers say that they wished our bodies had not failed. How a "traditional" birth would have been better, wondering how we ended up like this. I can tell you that I did not plan to have a C-section. I did not want to have a C-section ... but my body did not fail me"says Jacqueline.
For Jacqueline, the scars on her body they are not a memory of a birth that was not, but of how strong it can be. Now after so many years, she is the mother of three children of two years, one year and one week at the time of the photo shoot.
"This body that has seen surgeries, tumors, three caesarean sections and an incredible loss has not failed me at all. My baby is alive, I am alive, and there is no scar or operation that can take that away. The scar that almost determined my future ends in the scar that has given me"concludes Jacqueline.
So mom, if you also went through a C-section that you didn't expect, remember that your body did not fail you. The way our children are born does not determine whether or not you are a good mother or if you are strong or weak. The simple fact of creating life and carrying it on your belly, now makes you strong and powerful.
Photos | The Honest Body Project (reproduced with permission)
Via | Cafe Mom
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