Mum divides internet over ‘controversial’ beauty act during labour

“Getting ready for my VBAC… I’m 10cm dilated,” the fitness influencer mum captioned the viral video.

There are a lot of things women do to get ready for the birth of their child.

I packed my hospital bag, thought about making a birthing playlist and then didn’t bother, took a calm birth course (which did not prepare me for losing two litres of blood and ending up in intensive care for a week, but whatever).

I even briefly considered buying some cute matching pyjamas and a robe for the hospital before I decided that maternity pads and leaky boobs would ruin any “cute outfits”.

But never did I ever consider putting on a full face of make-up while I was in labour.

I was too busy standing in the shower screaming through each contraction.

Kylen Suttner on the other hand, is all about the right birthing make-up, and she filmed a get ready with me video while she was in labour.

We’re not just talking about a bit of lip gloss and some blush for colour, people.

Kylen had her whole make-up bag at her disposal. I’m talking foundation, brow gel and contouring. The woman was 10 centimetres dilated and she was drawing dark brown lines down her nose and defining her cheekbones.

To each her own.

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Mum does full face of make-up while in labour

“Get ready with me to push this baby out my hoo-ha,” she said in the video as she carefully placed highlighter on her face.

“I almost threw up right there,” she continued.

“As I was saying, we’re almost 10 centimetres dilated,” she said, patting blush on her cheeks.

RELATED: A doula shares what labour’s like from her perspective

“I’m using my phone as a mirror. I meant to bring one but I forgot. I’m starting to feel a lot of pressure down there, like a need to poo.”

But Kylen wasn’t ready to push yet. There was still time to tap contour along her cheekbones with a beauty blender.

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The practical among us might think that Kylen’s beauty routine is unique, but there are enough people that do it, it’s got a name: birthing make-up.

If you could see my face right now, you’d note that my eyes are rolling back in my head so far, you’d worry they might get stuck.

RELATED: TikTok mum trolled over big pregnancy belly finally gives birth

A little contour in between contractions. Photo: TikTok

The commenters on her video were with me.

“I don’t understand how people do this during labour,” one woman said. “I was in pain even with the epidural.”

“Putting on make-up was the LAST thing I was worried about before I birthed my two children,” said another.

RELATED: Teen mum becomes TikTok influencer to support baby

Kylen welcomed a baby boy. Photo: Instagram

But not everyone agreed.

“Yes,” said one person. “Glam up girl.”

“This was me a year ago applying my cluster lashes minutes before starting to push,” said another.

I guess a big part of labour is surviving the pain by employing distraction techniques. And there are a lot of ways to distract yourself: breathing, reciting a special mantra, scream-counting on all fours while you're rocking your hips back and forth (ask me how I know) or focusing on getting your skin looking super glowy and flawless.

Originally published as Mum divides internet over ‘controversial’ beauty act during labour