“Ladies this is your cervix.. well not yours, someone else’s.. THIS is what thins out and dilates in order for your baby to descend through your birth canal and be delivered vaginally,” she wrote on Instagram. “Amazing how a thick round donut can work so hard to become paper thin to birth a baby.”
themidwifemumma/Instagram
Not only does Lamont want women to realize just how incredible their bodies are, but she also hopes that seeing just how far a cervix has to dilate will help them understand why labor can take so long. “This effacing & dilating process is hard work… the more you contract, the more babies head will apply pressure to the cervix & hopefully open it up,” she wrote. “Whether you have vaginal or Caesarian births – look after that vjj!”
themidwifemumma/Instagram
In addition to showing just how small the cervix is before baby comes busting out, Lamont also shared another post that demonstrates just how much it changes during labor. “One thing is for sure, your cervix works god damn hard to efface, dilate, and deliver your baby,” she wrote. “This above ladies, is what your cervix does to effectively push your baby out at 10cm.”
However, she also points out that no two births are the same. This means that the time it takes for each cervix to dilate is completely different and some never make it to 10 centimeters. “Some women ‘fail’ (hate this word because it sounds awful but I will stick with medical terms) to dilate at all, others stall at a certain number for several hours which leads to ‘failure to progress’ (don’t like this medical term either) & others obstruct for certain reasons which can be detrimental to both mom & baby,” she wrote. “It is important to remember, which ever way you birth, your body did not fail you.”
Lamont tells CafeMom that she was inspired to get real about the cervix because it doesn’t get the appreciation that it deserves. And let’s be real, it’s pretty eye-opening to see for yourself how completely closed it is before having baby descend through it just hours later. “I decided to share it because the cervix is something as a pregnant woman we hear about and know about but to visualize it is impossible,” she says. “I thought it was a great chance for women to actually see what their cervix looks like in real life … very much like the donut we as midwives discuss with our patients. The female reproductive system is amazing!”
FEATURED VIDEO: THE MIRACLE OF EN CAUL BIRTHS
