When people think about women giving birth, they tend to focus on things like pushing and counting breaths.
But, if you think about it, a lot has to be done to get that baby out into the world. A new photo is blowing people's minds for showing how a mom's bones move during the birth process.
It's kind of hard to miss that baby bump and the swollen feet that come with pregnancy.
There is a huge postpartum body movement happening on social media that celebrates the stretch marks and swollen breasts that come with being a new mom.
We know that her uterus is contracting and her cervix is dilating to accommodate the baby, but a new photo proves that giving birth requires the strength of a woman's entire body.
You can see the bone, that triangular bump near the base of her spine, protruding under her skin.
"The rhombus of Michaelis (sometimes called the quadrilateral of Michaelis) is a kite-shaped area that includes the three lower lumbar vertebrae, the sacrum and that long ligament which reaches down from the base of the skull to the sacrum," Dr. Sarah Wickham explained in an Instagram post.
"This wedge-shaped area of bone moves backwards during the second stage of labour and as it moves back it pushes the wings of the ilia out, increasing the diameters of the pelvis."
"It’s what Sheila Kitzinger (1993) was talking about when she recorded Jamaican midwives saying the baby will not be born ‘till the woman opens her back’. I’m sure that is what they mean by the ‘opening of the back."
"This happens as part of [the] physiological second stage; it’s an integral part of an active normal birth," Dr. Wickham said.
"If you’re going to have a normal birth you need to allow the rhombus of Michaelis to move backwards to give the baby the maximum amount of space to turn his shoulders in," she said.
"When women are leaning forward, upright, or on their hands and knees, you will see a lump appear on their back, at and below waist level," Dr. Wickham said.
For moms who gave birth in a similar position, it was a chance for them to see what they went through from a different perspective.
It's an important reminder of how incredible women's bodies are.
Even though we tend to picture moms giving birth on their backs, many women opt for an upright position or being on their hands and knees.
This mom actually heard her bones pop. Wow!
I also didn't know that this could happen and it's so cool. It just goes to show that there are still so many things about women's bodies and giving birth that we don't know.
