Olivia Bowen admitted she felt like ‘she had failed’ after having an epidural’ during birth of her son Abel.
The Love Island star, 29, welcomed her first child with husband Alex in June, and said ‘we need to make women feel more powerful’ if deliveries don’t go to plan.
She spoke of the pressure she put on herself to have a water birth and explained how she felt ‘disappointed’ when she couldn’t go through with it.
Joining the Made By Mammas podcast on Saturday, Olivia candidly discussed her experience.
She told hosts Zoe Hardman and Georgia Dayton: ‘I was really pro no drugs, I really wanted a water birth and I felt I could breath the child out and I think I felt a lot of pressure to do so, not from anyone else just from myself.’
Struggle: Olivia Bowen, 29, admitted she felt like ‘she had failed’ after having an epidural’ during birth of her son Abel
Candid: She spoke of the pressure she put on herself to have a water birth and explained how she felt ‘disappointed’ when she couldn’t go through with it on the Made By Mammas podcast
The reality TV star continued: ‘It felt like you’re a woman, you can do this, you were born to do this. And when it turned out, no, I couldn’t do this.
‘I just felt this huge shame around having an epidural, not being able to have a water birth and not being able to push him out just on my own.
‘I felt huge shame, I felt huge disappointment in myself. It just felt like I had failed because everyone had said “oh you’re a woman, you can do this. You are built for this, our bodies are built for it.”
‘No, that’s not the case in every situation. We should start making women feel a bit more, you know, powerful even if they have to choose an option they didn’t want to, essentially in the beginning. But at the end of the day he got here, he got here safely.’
It comes after Olivia showed off her toned figure and discussed the pressures of ‘bouncing back’ physically after giving birth on her Instagram last month.
The reality star looked gorgeous in grey cotton lingerie as she posed in her dressing room in front of a large mirror.
The two piece accentuated her hourglass figure and showcased her impressive collection of tattoos.
She told hosts: ‘I was really pro no drugs, I really wanted a water birth and I felt I could breath the child out and I think I felt a lot of pressure to do so, not from anyone else just from myself’
Gorgeous: It comes after Olivia showed off her toned figure and discussed the pressures of ‘bouncing back’ physically after giving birth on her Instagram last month
Olivia wrote: ‘I have been working out for 11 weeks this Sunday, consistently 5 times a week’.
‘I have been doing all sorts, running, weight training, HIIT, riding, new classes you name it I’ve given it a go. I am so proud of myself turning up. I have never consistently trained this long before & certainly never enjoyed it how I do now’.
‘It literally feels like part of my life & it would be weird without it. I started way too soon after Abel & felt so much pressure from around me’.
She added: ‘I regret so much giving into that pressure early on & wish that I had just waited until I was personally ready.
‘It literally made me feel a million percent worse & I hated myself’.
Working hard: Olivia wrote: ‘I have been working out for 11 weeks this Sunday, consistently 5 times a week’
Going on to say: ‘If I have any advice it would be just work on YOUR OWN TIME. Don’t ever give into the pressure, It’s not f*****g important unless it’s important to you!!’.
‘No one else’s, everyone’s situation is so so different & there is such a thing as divine timing & you can listen to it. It’s there right in your gut!’.
‘I am so much happier now & miles more confident, I’m not completely there yet but I’m so porud of doing this for me and no & no one else. I actually love it now!’.
‘No mad diet, no pushing myself to horrible limits, still going out enjoying drinks and good food’.
