The Truth Behind C-Section Birth: Mom Gets Candid About Her Physical & Emotional Stress

There's a misconception that delivering babies via Caesarean section is an easy way out for mothers, but that belief is far from the horrible, brutal truth. A woman has fired back at her Facebook critics who believe that C-sections are a convenient way to give birth.

Raye Lee began her Facebook post on August 20 recalling how she was in labor for 38 hours and how her baby boy's heart stopped with every contraction she felt. Initially believing that she was doing great and wouldn't require a C-section, she was shocked when doctors prepped her for major abdominal surgery to save the baby's life.

Lee described her C-section as "the most painful thing" she experienced in her life, recounting how the infant was pulled out of her body through a 5-inch incision on her abdomen and uterus. Doctors had to cut and shred through the layers of fat, muscle, and organs in Lee's body to get the child. She went on saying how people use "core muscles for literally everything... even sitting," but she can't do that after the surgery because she was in so much pain.

Her core muscles were "literally been shredded and mangled by a doctor," who can't repair them for more than six weeks because the "body has to do it naturally," Lee wrote on Facebook. As of this writing, Lee's post gained more than 25,000 shares. It was also accompanied by several photos of Lee's C-section scars.

Many women believe that giving birth via surgery, or C-section, is stress-free. But the procedure can be highly dangerous than a vaginal birth for moms who don't have a risk condition, childbirth researcher Dr. Eugene Declercq told Fit Pregnancy. There are indicators for when pregnant women need to plan ahead for a C-section.

Some moms need to prepare themselves for the procedure if they have more than one baby, if the baby is in a breech (bottom first) or transverse (sideways) position, and if they have placenta previa or a placenta that's situated too low in the uterus that it covers the cervix, BabyCenter listed. Other instances for a C-section delivery are when the pregnant woman is HIV-positive, if the baby has an abnormality or malformation that is too dangerous for a vaginal birth, and if the woman has an obstruction (e.g. huge fibroids) that would impede vaginal delivery.

Around one in three women in the United States have C-section births, according to Childbirth Connection. The C-section rate globally falls at about 19 percent, a study on JAMA Network stated.