Author, blogger and entrepreneur Constance Hall is pregnant.
Very pregnant.
At 36 weeks, Constance announced on her Instagram that she and her husband, Denim Cooke, have chosen to have their baby delivered via elective C-section, and like with most things, she was blisteringly honest as to why.
“I’ve decided against a Vbac (vaginal birth after delivery),” Constance wrote, specifying that the decision mainly came down to the “body damage.”
“One of my mates has a prolapsed arse and another has a prolapsed vag and the fact that I already have an inflamed bowel disease I just feel that I owe my anus more than this.”
Told you so!
Constance also explained it was important that her and Denim made the decision together, and feels no shame, or need to justify her decision.
“In 2018, Queens make decisions about their bodies, no justification needed. But this one took a lot of back and forth,” she wrote.
“Denim is all zen and natural, he’d pull the baby out in the river and chew threw the cord if he could. So when I heard him tell me that he’d prefer I had a C section I fell a little more in love with him.
“It’s my decision, but his opinion counts.”
The strong relationship between Constance and Denim was an evident thread throughout her interview with Mamamia founder Mia Freedman, which you can listen to below.
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In 2017, The Daily Telegraph reported that elective caesarean sections were on the rise. Accounting for over 40 per cent of 2308 births at Sydney’s Prince of Wales Private Hospital in 2015, a stark comparison to 2001, when that figure sat at only 23 per cent.
Speaking on Mamamia’s Hello Bump podcast, Bec Judd – who had her twin sons Tom and Darcy delivered through C-section, described the all-too-prevalent societal shame surrounding the procedure.
“I hear my girlfriends that have caesareans, they have to explain themselves. It’s like ‘I had a caesarean I took the easy way out’,” she said.
“Because of society’s view for ceasareans, I thought this was going to be easier than my natural delivery, and it was harder,” Bec said.
This is something Constance knows from experience, explaining that her worst vaginal birth took five months to heal from, while her C-section took three weeks of recovery time.
However, with her procedure scheduled in for the 28th of May, it’s cutting it very close to her due date.
“That was the earliest they’d give me,” she said.
Currently at 36 weeks, this will place her at 39 weeks for her operation, and with her history or premature births, Constance doesn’t know if she’ll definitely make it to the hospital on time.
“All my babies have been premature and Arlo was a one and a half hour delivery,” she said.
“I live a one and a half hour drive to the hospital and I held back tears when the doctor warned me that there is no guarantee I’ll make it in time for my C section…
“So it’s pretty clear that I’ll be giving birth in my car with my swollen rectum hanging down around my knees to one of those sumo babies that looks six months old. I’ll keep you posted.”
For what it’s worth, we’re wishing her all the luck in the world that this will not happen.
Top Comments
I really don’t like this lady. But this was a very funny post. Her choices about her delivery are entirely that - her choices. That being said, I think she’s making a really smart choice given her circumstance. Good luck to her, I hope the Bub holds out so she can have the c-section. I also quite like the bump photo - she looks great!