From Natural Birth Plan to C-Section: Jessie J Shares Her Birth Story

Things don’t always go according to the birth plan. While it’s certainly important to have a birth plan in place and prepare for how you want your labor and delivery journey to go, it’s almost equally important to remain open-minded and flexible in the face of the unknown.

Pop star, Jessie J, recently shared her birth plan pivot in a candid Instagram post. “I spent 9 months prepping for a natural birth. Strict food, the epi no, yoga, swimming, hypnobirthing methods. I had a tens machine, a birthing comb, I wanted a pool birth ideally with no medication,” Jessie J wrote.

“BUT this was MY plan to stay disciplined and focused. I knew full well it could and would most likely go in a completely different direction. When people asked me, ‘So what’s your birth plan’ I said ‘I am open to surrendering to the safest way for my baby boy to arrive.’”

And a different direction it did go. During her 40-week check-up, the Bang Bang singer was told that her son was completely turned the “wrong way around” and stuck as he was a little longer and heavier than average. “I did everything to try and turn him for 2 months but he said ‘Nah mum I wanna make an entrance out the roof, not the front door,’” she recalled.

“I was advised to have a planned C section for the safest birth. This video was taken 5 minutes before I went down to surgery. I went into active labor the night before and feeling all the feels but mostly just excitement for us to meet our baby boy,” she said.

The new mom would welcome her son in early May. “A week ago my whole life changed. My son entered this world and my heart grew twice the size. The feeling is indescribable. I am flying in love,” she wrote on May 19. "He is magic. He is all my dreams come true. He is my whole [world]. He and I are both doing great.”

Reflecting on her birth journey, the new mom said she felt led to share her story after so many people asked her, “‘Do you feel like you missed out on the birth you wanted?’ I had a birth, and it was everything I wanted because I got him at the end of it, that’s all that matters,” she wrote.

Many moms cheered on Jessie J for being so open with her birth journey and applauded how she took the changes in stride. Others congratulated the new mom but felt that it was important to note that it’s okay to be upset or hurt when things don’t go to plan.

“I love the celebration this person feels about their experience! And I also want to point out that both can be true. You can feel like you wanted a different birth experience and also feel so grateful that your baby is okay,” Licensed Clinical Social Worker and @thebirthtrauma_mama noted. “One does not somehow negate the other. A healthy baby matters and other things can matter too like your experience of birth.”

Learn more about creating a birth plan and how to stay flexible with it as baby’s arrival approaches. If you are struggling with an unexpected or traumatic birth journey, check out these resources for healing.