Kate Middleton made a public appearance a few hours after giving birth, and, of course, she looked amazing.
Has she ever not looked amazing? If there was ever a time where you expected her to look less than fabulous, this was the moment. Nope, she still stepped out look great. But is this an unrealistic expectation for other women?
Let’s keep in mind that Kate had an entire staff dedicated to making her look this good.
She likely felt just as crappy as everyone else after labor and delivery, but it was her duty to make an appearance and look like she had just left the spa instead of the delivery room. A lot of women want the world to know that just because Kate makes it look easy, it doesn’t mean having a baby isn’t horribly painful and doesn’t come with a lot of physical and emotional trauma.
Pregnancy does a lot to your body, and so can labor and delivery.
While a woman’s body is supposedly made to give birth, it doesn’t make it any easier. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, and some women’s bodies aren’t up to the challenge. Women rarely talk about things like pelvic injury or dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and painful intercourse as a result of giving birth. Most think it’s normal, and others are just too embarrassed to bring it up.
Cloe Axelson shared her story:
“After the birth of my third child, I was eager to get back to my regular running routine. When my OBGYN gave me the ‘all clear’ at my postpartum appointment, I vowed to start back slowly, running for a minute, then walking for a minute, to regain my strength and stamina.
“After a few jogs, I was hobbling around, worried that my insides might fall out and splatter against the pavement.”
“I called my doctor, the very one who gave me the green light. She recommended a couple of places for women’s specific physical therapy, but the waitlist at Mt. Auburn Hospital, where I delivered, was 45 names long — so long they weren’t even willing to add my name to the queue. I was eventually able to get an appointment with an outstanding women’s health therapist at Marathon Sports in Newton, but I had to wait six weeks for my first appointment.”
Her story isn’t uncommon, and there are a lot of women who have had similar experiences.
The problem is that women aren’t told about these things, and because they want to appear strong and resilient, they don’t complain when their bodies don’t bounce back.
They ignore the pain because they are supposed to be able to handle it or even because they are too busy caring for their families to stop and worry about themselves.
That is a problem. When women like Kate show up the day after they give birth and look like they are ready to walk the red carpet, it only makes things worse.
So, what can be done about it? For starters, people can stop talking about how great some women look after delivery and start asking them how they feel.
If anyone would have asked Kate if she wanted to put on a fitted dress and heels and have her hair done after delivery, she would have said no. But like many women, she did what was expected of her. We all deserve better.
Women deserve better healthcare and better postpartum care.
They see doctors on a weekly basis leading up to giving birth but are then sent home just a few days later. Better aftercare is needed, as is more awareness. When women open up and start talking about their issues, better care might become available. Women shouldn’t be expected to look amazing the day after they have a baby, not even Kate Middleton.
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