Source: Facebook
The birth of a baby is a time for celebration not just for the parents, but for the whole family. But in all this, the one thing most people forget about is the mother. Yes, it’s amazing that they have a new addition to their family. But bringing that little bundle of joy was certainly not an easy road for the mom. Most of us know how excruciatingly painful and tiring childbirth can be. Your whole body is aching and you are still to come to terms with all that has happened over the last few hours, both physically and emotionally. And the last thing any new mother needs at this point is for people to come barging in to see the newborn. In a post that has gone viral, Katie Bowman explains why people should wait a few days to meet the newborn.
Image: Facebook
In the viral post that has resonated with hundreds and thousands of women, Katie talks about why a new mom needs to have some privacy and rest after giving birth. In the post, she shares a photograph of herself which was taken roughly one day after giving birth. She explains how people can make out how exhausted she is by simply looking at the photograph.
In her post, the mother of 3 stresses the importance of having at least 2 days to herself to come to terms with the birth and everything that it encompasses. She talks about how a new mom needs to be given at least 1 to 2 days to shower and clean herself from all the blood and sweat and learn how to breastfeed her little one while also catching up on some sleep.
She reminds people of the struggles of breastfeeding through her text. The mom who also runs a blog talks about how breastfeeding is no private affair and that it takes a lot of effort from the mother and some help from the nurse for the baby to latch on properly. Talking about the time when she had given birth to her eldest child, Katie explains how difficult she finds it to even go to the bathroom with her sore lady parts when there is a room is full of visitors. Katie then says how everybody wants the bragging rights that they have held the baby within the first 24 hours but how nobody cares how the mother feels.
Image: Facebook
In her post, she also calls out people who label mothers as selfish, delicate, and drama queen if they are asked not to come to visit at the hospital. Katie also says how it’s NOT okay to comment on a woman’s appearance about how tired or pregnant she looks when she is at her utmost fragile state of mind.
Katie explains how her post is not about those women who can’t wait to meet people right after birth. But to those women who have tried to ask people to give them a day or two’s privacy, but instead, they got offended by it. The blogger mom acknowledges how she feels so loved and happy that people want to meet her baby but how incredibly hard is to tell people to give her a day’s privacy.
She ends her text by saying that it is not people’s right to visit a newborn, but rather a privilege. She writes “If that offends you, go home and put it in your burn book.”
Responding to her post, many women commented they feel exactly the same way and how nightmarish it can be to have people over soon after birth. There were also a few women who felt differently than what Katie had mentioned in her post. They shared their stories of how they had their family over soon after birth and revealed that they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Childbirth can be a traumatizing and mindblowing experience. And while some women like having their family over, others might not share the same opinion. The bottom line is, the next time you know of someone giving birth in your family, allow them to decide if they want visitors at the hospital or not. And respect her wishes if she says no because, in Katie’s words, you are not the one who had a tiny human emerge from your body.
