These Women Are Applying Make Up During Labor And People’s Opinions Are Mixed

Childbirth is painful, tiring, messy and now, glamorous? Women around the world are blending contouring and contractions with the ongoing trend of applying makeup before giving birth. We aren’t talking about a touch of mascara or some undereye cover-up to freshen up your face – no these mothers are doing full face beats, that are Instagram ready.

It might sound bizarre to some to prep for the camera during this strenuous time, but a study from Cosmetify revealed that 64 percent of women aged 18 to 31 get beauty treatments before going into labor, including hair removal (65 percent), a manicure (57 percent), pedicure (43 percent), spray tan (37 percent) or a blow-dry, cut or styling (32 percent). While glamming up for this life-changing occasion is not exactly a new thing, women have different reasons as to why.

Women around the world are preparing for childbirth by applying makeup

Image credits: alexisjayda

The real image of childbirth has been stigmatized for centuries, and women have felt pressure to hide the very unpolished reality. Social media has presented a whole new pressure to this equation for some. In the same study, respondents were asked why they were so concerned about their appearance following childbirth, and among the top reasons were looking good in photos (31 percent), looking presentable for visitors (26 percent) or to avoid looking ill, drained and tired (22 percent). A different study revealed that the average woman applies make-up within two-and-a-half hours of giving birth. Pictured above is beauty blogger Alexis Jayda in California who recorded a makeup tutorial while waiting to give birth to her child.

Image credits: 143diana

Another fellow beauty influencer Dana Chavez checked to make sure her contouring was on fleek and her eyebrows shaped up for her labor.

Image credits: 143diana

Lee Ann Jarrell took her childbirth glam so seriously that she said she ‘refused’ to give birth until her makeup was all done in 2018.

Image credits: leeannjarrell

For some women, the pre-birth makeup ritual served as a distraction to keep their minds off the pain of the contractions, while others chose to apply their makeup post birth for Instagram pics.

Image credits: leeannjarrell

This mom in California had a false alarm that sent her to the delivery room early, which gave her a chance to play around in some makeup.

Image credits: glamandgab

New York makeup artist, Alaha Karimi, went viral for the three makeup prep photos she shared back in 2016. According to her interview later with ABC News, she said the glam-up provided a much-needed distraction from her contractions. “I went to the hospital at 7:30 a.m., and I was in labor for a total of 10 hours that day,” she told ABC News. “I had an epidural around 8:30 or 9:00 a.m., so when it started to wear off, I needed something to distract myself from the pain.”

Influencer Alaha had her beauty photos go viral in 2015 when she shared images of herself in the process of applying her make-up followed by another pic of her experiencing contractions in the middle of it.