Stop with the naked truth

Most mums have horror stories - but trauma-dumping only makes new parents more anxious, says Charlotte Cripps, a mother of two who ignored the gore on parenting platforms

- Charlotte Cripps

My first experience of giving birth was an emergency C-section. I was thrust onto a wheelie trolley and cut open in the early hours of the morning. It can't get more raw than that.

The contractions beforehand were literally unbearable. I had refused an epidural - and then begged for one. There are plenty of gory details I could go into here. But I won’t. While it was one of the hardest experiences of my life, I don't think new or expecting mothers need to hear it.

A new website called Frida Uncensored, which launched in the UK this summer, thinks it's essential that they do. The platform for mums-to-be and new mums is "a stripped-down resource for women, by women" with real, unfiltered and explicit X-rated "how-to videos", starring half-naked mums in clips titled "How to heal a postpartum vagina", "How to soothe engorged breasts", and "How to treat cracked nipples".

Another video, "How to do a prenatal perineal massage", reveals a mum lubricating herself before stretching her vulva with a prepare-to-push perineal massage wand. "How to treat a C-section scar", meanwhile, is enough to put anybody off having a baby, as if Gen Z or Millennials needed any more discouragement.

The website was developed by Chelsea Hirschhorn, the founder and CEO of the parenting and fertility health brand Frida, who created the “The SnotSucker Nasal Aspirator” for newborns and toddlers. She also uses her own mum's products in many of the videos. She told