Women share diverse birth stories using #SoProud hashtag

Women are sharing their birth stories using the #SoProud hashtag after footballer Harry Kane praised his fiancée for giving birth to their second daughter without any pain relief.

Tweeting about his fiancée Kate Goodland and their baby Vivienne Jane Kane, he wrote: "So proud of @KateGoodlandx for having the most amazing water birth with no pain relief at all," he wrote.

The tweet became the subject of debate when he posted it on August 8, due to the implication that women who give birth without pain relief should feel more proud of themselves than those who do.

This inspired the Positive Birth Movement, founded by writer Milli Hill, to encourage women to write online about their personal experiences of giving birth using the hashtag #SoProud.

Numerous women have been sharing their tales on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, highlighting the diversity of birth stories in the process.

“#Soproud that I was able to birth my breech baby at home thanks to having the support of fabulous skilled independent midwives,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“Proud that I made it through major abdominal surgery whilst AWAKE so my baby could be born safely after his heart rate plummeted during labour and my body hadn’t reached the point I was able to push him into the world," another mother wrote in a post shared on Facebook.

“Every birth is different, but every birth is BIRTH.”

Midwives have also been chiming in to talk about the pride that they’ve felt towards mothers and colleagues while delivering babies throughout their careers.

“As a midwife, I’m #soproud of every woman in my care, no matter how she gives birth, and #soproud of my colleagues for working #sohard to help women achieve motherhood with dignity and joy,” a midwife wrote on Twitter.

Following the attention that his initial tweet received, Kane posted a follow-up tweet clarifying that he hadn’t meant to imply that mothers who give birth without pain relief are worthy of 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.”

Celebrities including Angelina Jolie and Giovanna Fletcher have given birth using hypnobirthing, a technique that is purported to reduce stress and discomfort for women in labour.