Women are sharing their birth stories using #SoProud to show that all births are an achievement

Women are taking to the Internet to share their birth stories using #SoProud to show that no matter how your baby was delivered, it’s an achievement you should be proud of.

ICYMI footballer Harry Kane caused quite the furore last week after praising his fiancée for giving birth to their second daughter without any pain relief.

“So proud of @KateGoodlandx for having the most amazing water birth with no pain relief at all,” he wrote on Twitter.

But some people weren’t happy about the tweet, calling the footballer out for seemingly implying that women who opt for pain relief during labour should somehow feel less proud of themselves.

In response to the backlash, Positive Birth Movement founder Milli Hill, decided to try and encourage women to share their own personal experiences of giving birth using the hashtag #SoProud.

And since an initial call out tweet, hundreds of women have been taking to social media to reveal their own birth stories, shining light on some incredibly diverse experiences in the process.

“#SoProud that I gave birth the way I wanted to, at home after two previous traumatic caesareans and a hospital birth,” one woman wrote alongside a picture of her just after birth.

“No pain relief needed and was by far better experience of my previous medicalised [sic] births. Just surrounded by my children, my husband and my midwife.”

“I am #soproud to have given birth naturally with no drugs, then recovering from emergency surgery under general anaesthetic and last but not least coming to terms with #birthtrauma and postpartum PTSD. All births are an awesome achievement,” another mum shared.

Midwives and other health professionals have also been joining in to show their support for the empowering hashtag.

“#SoProud of the women that I have supported in their birth choices – be that caesarean or normal birth #AllBirthsMatter and thankyou @millihill @birthpositive & @HKane for the #SoProud #”

Following the backlash his original tweet sparked, Kane took to Twitter once again to explain that he didn’t mean to imply that mums-to-be who give birth without pain relief should receive more praise than those who do.

“Let’s get one thing straight, any women can give birth however they would like,” he wrote.

“I’m very proud of my fiancée for doing it the way she wanted and we both learnt a lot from hypnobirthing.”

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

Is it time to stop censoring birth photos on social media?

Would you want your mother-in-law there while you give birth?

New mum’s honest response to ‘when are you due?’ is going viral for all of the right reasons