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Bekah Martinez's Mom Played A Major Role In Her Water Birth, & It's So Powerful

When it comes to the people a pregnant woman wants in the delivery room with her, preferences can vary widely. Many moms-to-be prefer having only their partners by their side during childbirth. Some opt for parents, sisters, or a best friend. Others have such a large support team it might seem like a full-on party in there. Either way, one person often makes all the difference. As it turns out, Bekah Martinez's mom played a major role in her water birth. And the photos say it all.

Just to get you up to speed, a lot has happened in Bekah's life since her time on Season 22 of The Bachelor. For starters, she announced back in September that not only was she in a relationship — but she had a baby on the way, Today reported. Martinez delivered her first child with Grayston Leonard on Feb. 1, according to E! Online. A few days later, the new mom shared they had named their baby girl Ruth Ray De La Luz Leonard, People reported. Which brings us to present-day Bekah.

On Friday, March 8, the former Bachelor star took to Instagram to share a few incredibly raw — and powerful — photos, featuring her own mother, from her recent water birth. "On International Women’s Day, this one goes out to the woman I love the most — my mom," Martinez wrote. "These photos are from Ruthie’s birth. You can see that fear and doubt had swept over me as I began to push. I had conquered 29 hours of laboring with relative ease, but as the final moments neared I became so afraid. Afraid of the sensations, yes — but also afraid of that spiritual transition from child to mother."

Editor’s Note: The Instagram post has since been deleted.

She continued:

My mom was there every step of the way, and I truly don’t know how I could have done it without her. I looked into her eyes so deeply, searching for strength, and her words and prayers encouraged me. She held my hand as I shivered uncontrollably; she held the trash can as I vomited repeatedly. She was and has always been my angel. My mom is bold, patient, fearless, selfless, hopeful, compassionate, and humble: the perfect woman. Happy International Woman’s Day. You are stronger than you know!

If you click through the series of three photos, you can see exactly what Martinez is talking about. The first shot shows the laboring mom in the birthing tub looking to her smiling mother for reassurance. In the next photo, Martinez looks as if she's breathing through a contraction while her mama is holding her hand and coaching her through it. And in the final shot, the mom-to-be is hunched over the side of the birthing tub while her own mom embraces her.

Martinez shared more about how she prepared for her water birth via her Instagram Story. "One thing I also want to remind people, though, is that how you prepare for your birth — unmedicated or medicated — I think can really change the outcome or how your experience is. Or even how you cope with the intensity of the different sensations," she said to the camera in a series of video clips. "And I have to say I put in a lot of work before my birth into reframing the idea of pain in my mind and reading a lot of different resources, watching a lot of different medicated births inside and outside of hospitals. I took a hypnobirthing class. And all these different things really prepped me mentally for the experience."

The new mom explained that she also prepared herself for the possibility of being transferred from the birthing center to a hospital — and even for an emergency C-section. She added:

If you have to have those emergency interventions, you're not any less of a mother, or a birther, or any of those things. That's something that happens. And medical technology is great.

I personally find the photos Bekah Martinez shared of her mom supporting her during childbirth so powerful. Clearly, they have an amazing bond — and her mom's presence help Martinez immensely as she brought new life into the world.

It's interesting to hear about the amount of preparation that went into her birthing experience, too. As happy as she is about everything going according to plan, it's refreshing that Martinez also acknowledges that sometimes things are out of laboring moms' control. Thanks for the sharing your insight — and the gorgeous photos of you and your mom — with us, Bekah!