New realization

I guess I've been living under a rock, but I realized only recently that natural or vaginal birth is one the most painful experiences one can go through. Some women are even cut to make the delivery process 'easier' in a practice known as episiotomy (~2 inch cut from the vagina to the anus!! sorry to be graphic). The most frightening part of this is that women generally do not feel this 'cos they are too focused on pushing! Still get shivers when I think about it. The other technique is cesarean section, where they make an incision in the abdomen to remove the baby. Extracting a child by C-section looks like something out of Alien, but then again, vaginal birth looks equally disturbing (yes, I've watched a few on YouTube - needless to say it was an eye opening experience, almost fainted at the episiotomy). And there I was already planning on how many kids I want, will have to rethink that!

I don't understand why there are so many women out there who describe pregnancy and giving birth as a beautiful experience!? The most beautiful experience I think of being a mom is watching your kid grow up, and being pregnant and giving birth is something you have to pay for to achieve that. Maybe this painful experience is what makes moms love their children all that more? After finding this out, I have a newly established appreciation for women out there who are willing to go through this. Especially my mom who went through 4 C-sections to deliver 5 kids (my twin sister and I in one go).