When it comes to giving birth, there are all sorts of “fun” things that can happen while your feet are in stirrups, you’re cursing your partner’s name, and you keep trying to push with all your might.
Some of us poop. Others tear all the way back to their you-know-what-holes. And then there are those of us who bear down so hard that we literally pop multiple blood vessels in our faces. (Yikes!)
Believe it or not, it's a very real side effect
And yet, it’s not necessarily something they warn you about in birthing classes.
Luckily, though, one mom on TikTok has been giving people some insider info after she says she “pushed way too hard” while giving birth to her son.
The TikTok was originally shared by Yelena von Breymann
The new mom and lifestyle influencer (@yelenaa.x) shared the story in response to a TikTok user who commented on another one of her posts about blood-shot eyes after giving birth.
@yelenaa.x Reply to @aaaa.215 ♬ original sound – YELENA
Yelena confirmed that this can happen, but also explained that it can go far beyond just the eyes.
Turns out, the new mama pushed so hard for so long that she burst hundreds of tiny blood vessels all over her face and looked slightly terrifying after giving birth.
It was all so intense that it took weeks for the lines to fade
In fact, before sharing a postpartum photo of herself, she tried to brace them for what they were about to see …
“Don’t be scared because it was really, really, bad,” she warned, before showing a photo of herself with what appears to me LOTS of oddly colored freckles all over her face.
The broken blood vessels definitely took the new mama by surprise
“I was scared to look [in] the mirror the first couple days,” she admitted in the comments section. “I’ve never seen anything like that!”
“So yeah, I definitely didn’t get that cute hospital photo [with] my baby,” she added at the end of the clip.
In response, many people were ... well, borderline horrified.
“Wait!” wrote one TikToker. “Those aren’t freckles?”
“Damn girl, you pushed hard!” added another.
“Yep, I don’t want children now,” declared someone else.
But quite a few others said this also happened to them
“I gave myself black eyes and busted blood vessels in one eye,” shared one mom. “I pushed way too hard.”
“Same thing happened to me,” added someone else. “Broke major blood vessels on my eyeballs as well. I looked like Satan!”
Another mom said she wound up with “two black eyes” after giving birth to her own son, while several others said they actually experienced this while going through morning sickness.
“This happens to me whenever I throw up!” shared one user.
According to experts, this not-so-fun side effect does happen
It seems to be especially common in women who labor (and push) for long periods of time, and tend to forget to breathe through the contractions and pushes. (According to Yelena, her entire labor lasted for eight hours and she definitely didn’t focus enough on her breathing techniques.)
@yelenaa.xI wore this dress when I was 9 months pregnant also, it’s so stretchy
Although it may look a bit scary, a few burst capillaries after birth are really nothing in the grand scheme of things. According to the Tennessee mom, she also went through the nightmare of a third-degree tear. (Ouch!)
That said, she found her faux birth “freckles” to be even worse.
“The face bothered me more … LOL,” the mom shared. “It took forever to heal and I just wanted to hide in a hole.”
(Honestly, we get it!)
