Model Elsa Hosk gave birth to a baby girl on February 11. On Instagram, she recounted her natural childbirth in the water.
Pregnant, we dread childbirth as much as we idealize. When the pregnancy is going well, we have the chance to be able to choose the way we will give birth. Some mothers choose to give birth naturally in water. It’s Elsa Hosk’s choice for the arrival of her baby girl Tuulikki. The Victoria’s Secret model has decided not to welcome her baby girl to a hospital in New York, but to her home in California. The baby was born on February 11, 2021, after long hours of labor.
On February 16, five days after the baby’s arrival, Elsa Hosk opened up about her natural childbirth on Instagram. The young woman recounts in detail the day she gave birth, without watering down what she experienced. A nice way to inform future mothers who would like to take the plunge.
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"I felt like I was in survival mode"
The model called in a midwife, a doula and practiced hypnobirthing to prepare for D-Day. She explains that she had contractions for two days, preventing her from sleeping, before she partially lost them. waters. "The cervix began to dilate, the pain was very strong, I had only one desire, and that was to put myself in a very hot shower to relieve myself (…) I lie down between each contraction to rest, and when it arrives, I have to get up and hold on to something to endure the pain (…) I was waiting for the midwife to arrive, the contractions became more and more intense, j 'just felt like I was in survival mode', she recalls.
What motivates her to endure this pain is knowing that she will soon be holding her daughter in her arms. Elsa Hosk then enters the birthing pool set up in her room, but it still needs to be dilated two inches before giving birth. “I remember feeling desperate to still have to wait for deliverance. I have a feeling she's never going to come out. I begin to doubt myself and my ability to continue. But I remember I can't stop, the baby has to come out, "she says. To help the little one move forward in the pelvis, the midwife suggests that she try to put herself "in the fetus position" on his bed. “My body falls asleep between contractions, and wakes up with adrenaline as soon as it hits. In this posture, I find the strength to push and I completely lose water in the bed. But I don't care. When I doubt myself, and can't breathe between contractions, I feel like I'm breaking into a thousand pieces. Giving birth takes a lot of self-control, it is the worst pain and the greatest fear I have ever felt in my life. I felt like an animal ", she continues.
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12 hours later, her cervix is quite dilated. She can finally give birth in water: “When we started to see his face, they put up a mirror and forced me to look. They know this will motivate me. And to my great surprise, it gives me a lot of strength ” Her baby bump wasn't very big, so Elsa Hosk couldn't imagine welcoming a big baby. And yet, her daughter came out well. “They put it on my chest. She was full of blood and fluids, she was looking for my breast. From that moment, all the pain is forgotten. I feel happy, proud and fulfilled ”, she says. Before concluding : “Sometimes I look at her and cry when I think back to everything we've been through together (…) I look at mothers today with respect and admiration. "