Ohhhh.
So we just saw a thing and we fear our vaginas will never be the same again.
Detroit woman, Stephanie Christi’an has shared a photo of dilation chart which shows what a dilated cervix actually looks like during child birth.
And we’re sorry, but there has to be a mistake.
Giving context to the photo, Stephanie wrote, “This is what 10cm of dilation looks like. This is why we deserve all the things,” in the caption, and she’s 100 per cent correct.
Because, here’s the thing. After enduring a series of (normally) painful contractions which widen (i.e. dilate) the cervix, women are generally only allowed to start pushing once this hits the 10 cm mark. But, as you can see from the image above, THIS IS NOT THE SIZE OF THE BABY’S ACTUAL HEAD.
And while the cervix, and vagina, will ‘stretch’ to accomodate and birth the baby, we all know that process isn’t exactly a walk in the damn park.
After Stephanie's post went viral with 358 comments, 13,000 likes and 169 shares (because women, and men, need to be informed about this), Johannesburg-woman, Ngoako Lerato Mannya, later shared Stephanie's photo on Twitter, where it continued to traumatise thousands more.
In nine days, Ngoako's post has received nearly 300 comments, 21,000 retweets and 53,000 likes.
See what me mean...
How do you feel about this chart? Group therapy is open in the comments.
Top Comments
Well, I guess this just shows why so many babies come out looking like the Coneheads! Somehow manages to be amazing and kind of horrific at the same time.
What did you think happened during birth?! A woman’s body is designed for birth (albeit in the perfect scenario). That doesn’t mean every woman goes through this, or that every woman should. You’re talking about a textbook scenario. Let’s not forget that at birth, a baby’s skull isn’t fused. Why? To facilitate the birthing process.
I was fortunate enough to give birth naturally, my body working as it was designed to. Unfortunately I developed severe PND, that has lasted far longer than textbooks will tell you. I would rather go through a natural childbirth a million times over than suffer the effects of severe PND. I once told a close friend this after she had talked about having 30 hour labour’s for 3 children. She was stunned. There are worse things than childbirth. And you perpetuating the “horror” of how much a cervix dilates, (and is MEANT to dilate), doesn’t help this situation at all.