People who haven’t given birth, and those lucky enough to dodge the complications, always downplay the ugly side of pregnancy and labour.
Childbirth pain is so glorified that some people actually think those who have a C-section aren’t “real women”—especially coming from folks who don’t even have a uterus.
The risks of childbirth should be made so painfully obvious that no teenager should even dream of it.
These are some of the major downsides of getting pregnant
- Pregnancy can be the genesis of unending diabetes for some people
- Endless UTIs & Acne
- You may get high blood pressure and make the birth complicated. This has eve caused death.
- Risk of blood clots (pulmonary embolism (PE) or deep vein thrombosis). This has caused maternal deaths severely.
- Horrific morning sickness that makes you want to die! 😭
- Scathed bladders, hence incontinence of urine & poo; this is very common in rural areas. Mothers later require fistula surgery.
- Depression & anxiety
- CS births have a very painful recovery; especially the first 2 weeks are just a horror story.
- The C-section comes with gas pain that goes all the way to the shoulders, especially hours after the surgery.
- Risks of incision rapture when you lift stuff too soon with a C-section wound.
- There’s a risk of mastitis, and it’s very very painful during breastfeeding. It requires a hospital visit for antibiotics.
- With unprofessional medics, mothers have had gauzes & scissors left in their uterus. 😭
- There is a risk of sepsis from the cuts and wounds, that can lead to death, if not loss of limbs.
- Risk of amniotic fluid embolism: occurs when a mother gets amniotic fluid into their bloodstream, which can cause lung and heart failure.
- Amniotic Fluid Embolism (AFE) above can also cause uncontrollable bleeding from the uterus or C-section incision. This complication has causes women to get strokes, damaging their lives forever.
- weight gain that is hard to lose.
- Perineal tears. A woman’s vagina and the surrounding tissues are likely to tear during the vaginal delivery process.
- Hemorrhoids and horrible constipation is a common occurrence.
- Bowel complications, including intraoperative bowel injury during a C-section. Some crook medics won’t even say they injured your organs; you’ll go home, get septic, get bad fevers, and die. 🥹
- Loss of teeth. Yes, you lose teeth because of pregnancy complications like acid erosion, tooth decay, and gingivitis. Imagine ukikua kibogoyo juu ya mimba 😭
Guard your wombs ladies! Check out other womanhood problems to be aware of!