Chinese mothers tattoo over C-section scars
After trying cosmetic creams and surgery, Wang Jing placed her hopes in the skilled hands of a tattoo artist to make the scar on her belly finally disappear.
Wang Ruoyu, 37, mother of a 16-year-old son and a yoga coach, had a C-section because her baby weighed 4.25 kilograms at birth. She began practicing yoga for postpartum recovery and became a yoga coach. "I love all beautiful things that make me look better," she said. "I chose the pattern of a crown with wings to cover the scar. It looks nice."
Wang Jing, 46, who has a 20-year-old daughter, has spent thousands of dollars over the years on treatments to remove her scar from caesarean birth of her daughter. She decided to cover up the scar with a tattoo of "Little Pepper", one of her three pet cats. "I want to be more confident when wearing low-rise pants," she said.
Grace Yuan, 34, mother of a 3-year-old daughter and a dance teacher, said: "Now I feel more confident after getting this tattoo. I can dance freely on the stage without worries or awkwardness."
Kiki, 25, mother of a 5-year-old boy, chose to have a C-section over natural birth because she didn't want to suffer too much. "This is my fifth tattoo. I like flowers and have tattoos of flowers on my shoulders and legs. I enjoy getting tattoos, it's addictive," she said.
Eason Zhou, 28, mother of a 5-year-old child, had a C-section because the baby was past its due date. She has tried a scar-removal product before but it didn't work very well. She saw reports on the artist and wanted to have a try. "In the past people thought tattoos were just for men, but now women are starting to get them too," she said.
Li Ling, 34, mother of a 6-year-old boy, said: "I constantly felt hungry during my last month of pregnancy and I couldn't stop eating. As a result my son grew too big for a natural birth. He weighed 4.18 kilograms when he was born." Ling's tattoo is of a forest under a night sky showing the the Capricornus Constellation. Capricorn is her zodiac sign.
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Health experts cite several reasons for China's widespread use of the procedure.
Caesarean delivery is believed to require less nursing hours than a natural birth, helping China cope with rising in-hospital births as more people move to cities and put pressure on health services.
