Olivia Bowen admitted that she “felt like she had failed” after an epidural “during the birth of her son Abel.
The Love Island star, 29, welcomed her first child with husband Alex in June, saying ‘we need to make women feel empowered’ when deliveries don’t go according 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.
Participate in the Made by moms podcast on Saturday, Olivia candidly discussed her experience.
She told hosts Zoe Hardman and Georgia Dayton, “I was really for no drugs, I really wanted a water birth and I felt I could exhale the child and I think I felt a lot of pressure to do that, not just from someone else. From myself.’
Struggle: Olivia Bowen, 29, admitted she felt ‘she had failed’ after an epidural ‘during the birth of her son Abel
Candid: She spoke about 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 being a woman, you can do this, you were born to do this. And then it turned out, no, I couldn’t do this.
“I just felt tremendous shame around having an epidural, not being able to have a water birth and not being able to push him out on my own.
“I was very ashamed, I felt a 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’re built for this, our bodies are built for this.”
‘No, that is not the case in every situation. We should make women feel a little bit more, you know, empowered, even if they have to choose an option that they actually didn’t want to begin with. But at the end of the day he arrived here, he arrived here safely.’
It comes after Olivia showed off her toned figure and discussed on her Instagram last month the pressures of “bouncing back physically” after giving birth.
The reality star looked stunning in gray cotton lingerie as she posed in her dressing room in front of a full-length mirror.
The two-piece model accentuated her hourglass figure and showed off 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 exhale the child and I think I felt a lot of pressure to do that not from anyone else just from myself”
Gorgeous: It comes after Olivia showed off her toned figure last month and discussed the pressures of physically ‘bouncing back’ after giving birth on her Instagram
Olivia wrote, “I’ve been working out for 11 weeks this Sunday, consistently 5 times a week.”
‘I’ve done everything, running, strength training, HIIT, horseback riding, new classes you name it, I’ve tried it. I’m so proud of myself for showing up. I’ve never trained consistently for so long and certainly never enjoyed it the way I do now’.
“It literally feels like part of my life and it would be weird without it. I started way too soon after Abel and felt so much pressure around me’.
She added, “I regret giving in to that pressure so early and wish I had just waited until I was ready personally.
“It literally made me feel a million percent worse and I hated myself.”
Hard at work: Olivia wrote, ‘I’ve been working out for 11 weeks this Sunday, consistently 5 times a week’
Continuing: “If I have any advice, it would just work on YOUR OWN TIME. Never give in to the pressure, it’s not f*****g important unless it’s important to you!!’.
‘No one else, everyone’s situation is so so different & there is such a thing as divine timing & you can listen to it. It’s right there in your belly!’.
‘I’m so much happier & miles more confident now, I’m not quite there yet but I’m so ready to do this for myself and no one else. I really love it now!’.
‘No crazy diets, don’t push myself to the limit, still going out while enjoying a drink and good food’.