There was once a time when a woman who just gave birth was encouraged and expected to do little else than rest, recover, and nurse the baby. This was called lying in—a time for mother and infant to convalescence for the days and weeks after childbirth.
Read MoreI looked at my vagina for the first time since giving birth the week before my 6-week postpartum checkup.
I'm so glad I did.
I won’t lie, this scared me a little. I had a third degree tear and many stitches along my perineum. They eventually dissolved but turned into bumpy granulation tissue. When I touched my perineum during showers, it felt swollen, tight, and irritated.
Read MoreSometimes childbirth scars us, physically and emotionally.
These two kinds of scars seem inseparable from one another.
For me, I didn’t know which one came first, but I knew that as long as my physical issues remained I suffered emotionally.
Read MoreWe were at the “Connect with Your Core” workshop for moms and pregnant women aimed to connect us with our core and feel stronger in our own skin. This workshop led by Frances Darnell of Dynamic Core offered a space for us to be with ourselves, our bodies, and a community of women. We engaged in honest conversations about prenatal and postpartum experiences led by local perinatal professionals.
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