Through platforms like TikTok and Instagram, women have felt more comfortable exposing the other side of pregnancy, leaving many viewers trembling while contemplating possible tooth loss, vaginal tearing or even death.
With celebrities such as Chrissy Teigen, Keke or Serena Williams highlighting the less glamorous and darkest intricacies of childbirth, a lot of women have also come forward to recount their tales of “horror”, dismantling decades of a deeply internalised, romanticised notion of childbirth perpetuated by “natural-birth” industries. Even though these platforms are being utilised as a pool where our minds can dive into different birthing stories, we ought to acknowledge the positive in their teaching powers by grounding ourselves beyond the most concerning anecdotes.