How does it feel to be pregnant?

“Birthing is the most profound initiation to spirituality a woman can have.”

– Robin Lim

Womanhood will find a purpose in the journey of life once it finds a life beating in its womb. There is no limit to the joy and thrill; a woman can expect on finding herself on the threshold of motherhood.

In the beginning stages of pregnancy, due to an imbalance in hormones, she will find herself in an utterly distressful situation with vomiting, leg cramps, and pains. As the fetus grows from a unicellular organism into a multi-cellular organism, she could feel the bump of the fetus. As the pregnancy stage advances, she could feel the kicking of her baby on walls of her womb. And the bond that cocoons mother and the baby is nothing but tender, love, and care. 

Even at the throngs of labor pain, she faces during each contraction, her anticipation of the coming 'wonder' into her life make her eases and bear the terrible contraction and labor pains. And there are no words to describe when she catches the first glimpse of her dear angel and the first feel of the baby skin.

So during this nine-month duration of pregnancy, all the mother can sense is the feel of the existence of life – of her baby – in her womb. The baby who was in the form of a small dot, initially; will gradually take the form of an apple; then into a small shape of a human form; and finally into a fully grown baby by the end of the ninth month. 

The mother can catch an occasional glimpse of the baby during the periodic scanning times and yet from third month onwards; the baby will stay busy by kicking its legs, moving its arms and shaking its head. She could also hear the heart beat of the baby with the help of ultrasound scan. 

And by the seventh month, from touching the side her belly, she could feel the movement of her baby. By the fifth month, the baby’s ears are fully grown, and it could hear the mother’s voice and perhaps surrounding voices too. That’s why it is always good for the father to speak to their child from the fifth month so that baby gets familiar with the father once it comes out from the mother’s womb.

Hence, the women will have the instinct feeling of pure happiness and joy once she becomes pregnant. But due to the illogical artificial rules of marriage and family, in the name of civilization, a woman is subjected to the social stigma of shame and humiliation if she finds herself pregnant with marriage and the child born out of such union, showered with derogatory names, are looked down upon by the society. 

If the men had the instincts of birds, they wouldn’t digress from their moral responsibility of protecting the mother and child, and thus the word ‘bastard’ wouldn’t have found a place in Dictionary. Honour killing and abortion are all the side effects of such ridiculous man-made laws which are in direct violation of the natural law of sustenance of life in this world.

But, despite all these shortcomings and obstacles, a woman, be it a queen or a beggar, a noble woman or a sex-worker, once she finds herself on the lap of motherhood, there is no doubt in the abundance of joy and sheer happiness she has. And yet, the woman will truly be all the more happy if she finds herself sharing this wonderful happiness with the person she truly loves.