Mum shares caesarean scar to show that there is no such thing as the 'perfect birth'

Having a baby is an incredible achievement.

Whether it's a water birth, an epidural or a caesarean section or the other ways to have your baby, there is no one 'perfect' birth. And now one brave mum has proudly shared a picture of her caesarean scar, just a day after giving birth to help other mothers embrace their own scars.

Raquel Renteria from California has been regularly posting pictures of her pregnancy on Instagram. But in a recent post, she showed off her caesarean scar to help show other mums there is no perfect birth.

Although Raquel admitted she was scared of surgery, the scar and ‘the long term effects it would have on my body and my mind’. She said: ‘I was worried I would feel inadequate, like I didn’t give birth to her.’

However, she then said that after being told by other mums that having a c-section is okay, she realised that her baby’s birth was still beautiful and called herself a ‘bad a** mamma’.

‘I don’t feel as If I was robbed of a birth or like less of a bad a**. This scar proves that I am indeed a #badassmamma!’

While Raquel admitted that the decision to have surgery was not an easy decision, she said: ‘It pushed me to educate myself, open my mind, to let go of my perfect expectations.

‘I had everything I wanted during my birth. We had skin to skin in the OR, we saw out daughter being birthed (actually have the video of it), my husband cut the umbilical cord, they delayed cord clamping and most importantly, our baby was safe and beautiful and my doctor respected every decision we made.'

Talking about her scar from surgery, she said: ‘I couldn’t be more proud of this scar. I couldn’t be more proud of myself. And all those silly fears disappeared as soon as I realized, I was having the baby I prayed for and the birth experience I hoped for.'

Raquel’s post has already been like over 3,000 times, with other mums praising her honesty and sharing their own stories about having a caesarean section.

One mum said: ‘I know how a c section feels, during labor I got really ill and they had to do an emergency c section, I was doze out from all the medicine they had me, I did not got the chance to have skin to skin with my daughter but in the end she came out good and healthy. Takes time to heal, but through time you'll feel better :)’

Another Instagram user added: ‘This is so beautiful and encouraging, thank you for sharing it Gives me hope that if I have to have a caesarean one day it can be empowering too.’