The four words during labour that changed mum's outlook on life
A mother has taken to social media to post the four words her husband said to her during labour, that gave her some much needed perspective.
“The best four words my husband could have said to me in that delivery room,” Ashley Gibson wrote on Facebook.
When the blogger was giving birth to her third child, she was determined to have a non-medicated birth.
"My mum had done it and my friends had done it," the Arizona mum told Good Morning America.
During labour Ms Gibson agonised whether an epidural was the right decision as the pain increased, then her husband Brandon said four simple words that stuck with her.
"There’s no trophy Ashley," he said.
Ms Gibson wrote about those words in a Facebook post, that at the time of publication had been shared more than 64,000 times.
While Ms Gibson said that she realistically knows that there is no trophy in parenting, she felt it was important to share the phrase that was relevant to so many parts of being a parent.
"As mums in today’s world it can feel like we’re all competing for a trophy that doesn’t exist,” she wrote.
Ms Gibson said that in the middle of childbirth, she even felt that asking for pain relief was failing as a mother.
“I literally thought in that delivery room that I would somehow be 'less than' as mother for tapping out and asking for the drugs. Like there would be a gold medal or AT LEAST a gold sticker on my medical chart for having a natural birth,” she wrote.
Even after Ms Gibson had her son, she felt further assistance was another sign of failure.
“I felt like I was letting some invisible committee down when we bought formula to help him pass the amniotic fluid he had swallowed," she posted.
Gibson told GMA she's surprised by how many times her post has been shared.
"If I could have chosen a photo of myself to go viral it wouldn't be one of my four days postpartum," she laughed.
But she is happy the message resonated with so many parents.
"It's been great to hear that the post helped some mums heal in a way or just that it was something they needed to hear."
When it comes to being a new mother, Ms Gibson has her own important words to pass on.
"You really have to trust your gut,” she told GMA.
“People have all sorts of advice, but no one knows your specific situation," she added.
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