pregnancy

"Remember THAT moment!" The photo that captures a mother's emotion seconds after birth.

Business woman and mother, Kylie Ostle, says her husband is mortified that a photo he took of her seconds after giving birth to their third child, Sadie is going viral. He’s works in the creative industry and takes these things seriously.

Kylie’s labour lasted just over an hour from go to whoa, so Ryan Ostle didn’t have time to get the perfect shot.

Respectfully, we dispute that and argue that his photo captures the emotion of a mother in the seconds after giving birth beautifully and realistically.

Kylie who runs events business Mum Society, described as “TED talks for mums”, says that sharing natural and unstaged images of motherhood is “overwhelmingly” important.

“It is so rare to have images of yourself as a mum, well it is for me, usually it’s a selfie with the girls.

“To have this image that evokes so many emotions in one picture is like an out of body experience. It doesn’t just feel like me, it feels like it represents every mum.

“We have all had ‘THAT’ moment and it may not have been at the birth, it could have been 12 months down the line, when we are so overwhelmed with every emotion that you can’t describe it. My THAT moment with my first daughter, Isla (4) came when my second, Frankie (2) was brought home from the hospital and I cradled her in my arms. She was so big and grown up and I loved her so much and I was teary that I could have done better and I was sorry. There were so many emotions when I held her.

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“Just because there isn’t an image, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and being able to transport other mums back to their moment is a privilege and one worth sharing.

Kylie gave birth at Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney. She told Mamamia that the hospital has stylised, perfect photo of pregnant and post-natal women hanging on the walls.

“I also remember shaking my head at each appointment and some of the impossibly ‘staged’ images on the walls of the hospital.  They didn’t feel REAL or RAW, yes some of them are stunning birthing images but there are a few pregnancy portraits in particular that made me feel inadequate and just a bit rubbish as a pregnant mum.

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“My pregnancies weren’t all that glam, beautiful but not glamorous at all and I know a lot of other women just need a little more of the ‘real’ to aspire to and perhaps not quite so much perfection.”

Kylie’s third child came into the world fast.

“The first contraction lasted a minute and there was only a two-minute break before the next so I had a feeling it was going to be hard and fast. I went straight into my husband reading the girls bedtime stories and said,’ we need to go NOW!’ I may have even clicked my fingers!

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“I think I just knew, my body was screaming it to me but there is no way I thought it would be that fast. The contractions stayed the same for the five-minute drive and only got faster and more intense on arrival at the hospital.

“I was absolutely determined to have an epidural. I didn’t plan a third child, so the only way she was entering the world was with an epidural. I remembered the last two births. I remember my contractions being hard and fast and with just no break in between. So having an epidural was my only plan. It was what I wanted and I was completely confident in my decision.

“I phoned it ahead and tried to pre-order it with the midwife, apparently it doesn’t work that way,” Kylie joked.

Kylie was so determined to get her epidural she took action to try and slow her labour down as she “begged for the anaesthetist”.

“I also negotiated how long it would take and told him to work faster and stop talking if he wasn’t able to talk and inject at the same time, multi-tasking was crucial to make the birth happen. It gave me a moment to breathe which helped my headspace immensely.”

Despite the fact that Kylie gave birth just a week and a half ago, she’s hosting a Mum Society event on Wednesday the 26th of October with former Paralympian and mother Jessica Smith. You can get more details and buy tickets here.