Birth of a child is considered a miracle. No doubt, giving birth and raising the child is no easy task, but is it worth it or not, only mothers can say.
We are sure that childbirth is as joyous for father, as it is for the mother, but we don't hear how other people feel when they see a woman giving birth.
Luckily, a medical student decided to jot down his feelings after he witnessed a woman giving birth for the first time, and we kid you not, it is beautiful. Shabbir Mustafa from Pakistan's Aga Khan University witnessed the process, which was life-changing for him, during his two weeks in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology ward.
The 23-year-old fourth-year medical student took to Facebook to narrate his experience. He also says that he now has a "new found respect for women". Read it here:
"So i saw my first C-section last Tuesday and it honestly imbued me with a new found respect for women. I'd read and heard lots about the miracle of childbirth and as sacred as i thought it was, i had no idea it'd be so affecting in person. After rotating for about 2 weeks in Obs & Gynae, i'm already astounded by the resilience of every woman i interact with.
For the layman, during a C-section, women are given a special kind of anaesthesia which numbs them from the waist down. They're usually awake during this (although sedated and disoriented). But as soon as they know that their baby has come into this world (taken out of the womb by the surgeons), despite all the numbness, despite the pain, despite the discomfort, all the pulling and stretching, all the labour and the exhaustion, there's only one thing on their mind, the wellbeing of their baby.
During my first time witnessing this, as the surgeon got the baby out (hearing the baby cry instantaneously is another miracle), the lady on the table, almost asleep from the exhaustion and sedation, looked towards her side (where i was standing) and chanted just one thing 'mera bacha theek hai' (is my baby fine?)
The whole thing caught me off guard and tears welled up to my throat and i looked away to avoid sobbing and worrying the woman, as i reassured her that the baby was fine.
Almost none of us realise what women are actually capable of. They literally do everything AND still have the strength to pull something this miraculous off. I'd just like to quote some lines from Maxwell's song 'This Woman's Work' (which was coincidentally featured two weeks back in a show (the handmaid's tale) about the subjugation of women in a fictional united states)
'I know you've got a little life in you left
I know you've got a lot of strength left'
The song is primarily about childbirth and labour, and how a woman still carries on unshaken. Please do take out sometime to listen. Here's to respecting and understanding women and the miracles they're capable of.
(P.s this post in NO WAY means that women are just baby making machines and that only mothers are worthy of respect. this was just one instance which made me realise just how much a woman is capable of empathy, humility and resilience. Women have and will continue to be capable of so so so much more) (sic)"
According to The Indian Express, Mustafa started his Gynaecology and Obstetrics rotations in April. During this time, would be doctors work in different departments to increase their knowledge. They are assigned clinics and operating rooms (OR) so that they can get a first-hand experience.
"It was absolutely amazing to witness the whole thing," said Mustafa, as reported by the website.
After all, as Agatha Christie rightly said: "A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path."
