WARNING: This post contains images of scarring which some may find graphic.
A new mum has shared photos of her post-surgery scarring to prove c-sections are not the “easy way out”.
After giving birth via Caesarean section, Raye Lee quickly grew tired of people commenting: “Oh. A c-section? So you didn’t actually give birth. It must have been nice to take the easy way out like that.”
So on Friday 19 August, Lee took to Facebook to share photos of her scar and a “long dramatic post” sarcastically explaining that yes, her “emergency c-section was absolutely a matter of convenience.”
“It was really convenient to be in labor for 38 hours before my baby went into distress and then every contraction was literally stopping his heart.”
”This was the most painful thing I have experienced in my life,” Lee continued.
“I now belong to a badass tribe of mamas with the scar to prove that I had a baby cut out of me and lived to tell the tale, (because you can die from this, you know).
“Having a shrieking infant pulled out of an incision that is only five inches long, but is cut and shredded and pulled until it rips apart through all of your layers of fat, muscle, and organs (which they lay on the table next to your body, in order to continue to cut until they reach your child) is a completely different experience than I had imagined my son’s birth to be.
“This was not pleasant. It still isn’t.”
Lee then explained that her core muscles - which are used for everything from sitting to standing - had been “shredded” and took more than six weeks to heal.
Lee added: “When that first nurse asked you to try getting out of bed and the ripping pain of a body cut apart and stitched back together seared through you, you realised the irony of anybody who talks about it being the “easy way out”. So fuck you and fuck how you see what I did.
“I am the strongest woman, that I know. Not only for myself, but for my beautiful son... and I would honestly go through this every single day just to make sure I am able to see his smiling face.”
Lee’s post was shared more than 10,000 times in four days and received more than 140 comments - many from other c-section mums who could relate to her sentiment.
“Man, before my first child I really did think a c-section would be easier,” wrote one commenter. “But then I actually went into labor for 13 hours, tried pushing and then had to have an emergency c-section, and the relief I felt thinking it would be over soon was pretty short-lived.
“A c-section is not easy. It is major surgery. It is weeks, months, of recovery on top of trying to care for a newborn baby.”
Another added: “I’m a fellow c-section mama and I cried reading this. From joy and from remembering what mine was like. I’m proud of you and your bundle of joy is beautiful!
“You did great and you’re going to be an amazing mother, because you’re a strong woman.”