Have you ever wondered what a cervix looks like at 10cms dilated?
A year after sharing it on social media, a post made by a team of nurses at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Lancashire has gone viral across social media once again. In 2019, they turned pumpkins into an educational tool for parents-to-be, and the results are pretty horrifying. In case you missed it the first time around, here's what the stages of dilation may look like.
The labour of love is made up of ten pumpkins. Each shows the ten stages of dilation during childbirth. Even though I've birthed five babies, I shuddered at this picture too. It would give any first-time mother the fright of her life.
However, the creatively carved pumpkins that may paint a scary reality of labour is the perfect visual representation of cervix dilation for expectant parents.
From one to ten, the spectacular showcase starts with a googly-eyed 1cm mouth carved into the pumpkin, making it look somewhat cute.
Then as it progresses down the line, it increases centimetre by centimetre. it culminates with a 10cm circumference circle carved into the final pumpkin. We all know this represents the time to PUUUUUUSH!
It may look horribly horrid, especially if you’re looking at this with a bump below. But this is what our bodies are built to do. Our bodies are amazing. At the end of it all, we are presented with a beautiful little baby to nurture and treasure forever.
The image of the pumpkin display, which was part of a competition, was originally shared in the Pregnant Chicken Facebook page. It has since racked up thousands of shares and as many comments.
One mum wrote about the stages of dilation picture: "I’m finding it amusing that the look on the faces of the pumpkins matches the mother at each stage."
Another said: "I wonder how many nurses stuck their finger in to check for accuracy."
A third commented: "I am always in awe of what our bodies can do. Isn’t mother nature incredible?"
While another mother gave us a good old giggle saying what we were all thinking. She said: "Well, that settles it, my kid remains an only child."