Maren Morris Gets Real About Difficult C-Section Experience
Maren Morris has been delighting fans with adorable pics of her fast-growing infant son, Hayes Andrew, since his birth in March of this year. She and husband Ryan Hurd have been candid about the unusual nature of giving birth during a pandemic/quarantine situation — but the singer is now coming forth with discussion of how difficult her birth was, with hopes that other mothers will feel able to share their feelings as well.
Morris, in a video for Little Spoon's Is This Normal Series, reveals that she had a 30-hour labor that resulted in a C-section, and none of it was what she had expected in terms of a birth experience.
"I wanted to do it naturally, but I stopped having contractions, and it was just time to call it, and get him out safely," Morris details, but added that she had not prepared for the possibility of the procedure. "I didn’t read up on any of that ahead of time, because I didn’t expect to get one. So I just wish I had done a better job at preparing myself for the shock of a C-section, because the postpartum of a C-section is so brutal."
Morris noted that the recovery was more than she could have imagined, requiring her to "army crawl to get out of bed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night," and needing assistance from Hurd to perform ordinary activities. She added that the difficulty was compounded by her desire to care for her newborn. "You’re also wanting to hold your baby and breastfeed and pump and all this other s—, so that was crazy."
The singer says that she felt "really isolated, really lonely," as a result, and thinks that a lot of other new mothers must feel this way as well. She hopes that the subject will become be more widely discussed so women can share their experiences.
On the bright side, "Now that I’m four months postpartum, I feel a lot better," Morris says, adding that she has been able to resume everyday activities such as working out with clearance from her doctor. "You will come back; you will snap back. It takes time. It takes nine months to grow a baby. You need at least that to get back to yourself, so don’t rush it."
Morris participated in the Is This Normal series to support the Black Women’s Health Imperative. The Black Women’s Health Imperative is the first nonprofit organization created by Black women to help protect and advance the health and wellness of Black women and girls.
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