Birthing dolls: woman’s marvellous creation captures wonder of childbirth

One clever crafty woman crochets a series of dolls going through the experience of childbirth, even breastfeeding afterwards – and her Facebook followers are thrilled.

With her Facebook arts and crafts store, @KatieLouMakesStuff, Katie offers “handmade crochet bits and bobs, made with love and yarn”. A recent project depicting a mother giving birth has attracted enormous attention, which is understandable. The birthing mums are not only meticulously crocheted from scratch, but they also perfectly sum up the birthing experience in a simple and gorgeous way.

Hours of painstaking work

On her Facbook page, Katie has set out pictures of her work, saying, “Mmmmmmkay. So I may have made the best, most hilarious thing I’ve ever made. This has taken me a good 30 or so hours to make and I am pretty happy with the results.”

She apologies for the photography however no one is noticing the quality of photos as they are all entranced by the quality and subject matter of her work. Katie has covered all birthing options and goes on to explain: “she comes with the option of both vaginal and caesarean birth! Baby has detachable placenta and snap fasteners to enable breastfeeding.”

“This is amazing!”

Kate finishes her post with “Let me know what you think”. And with nearly 6,000 reactions and about 5,000 comments, followers were only too happy to show their enthusiasm.

“Will you be making more? I’d love to buy one!” wrote one follower.

“Omg love this! Please could you make me one?” commented another.

“This is so fantastic!!!!” wrote yet another viewer. “So creative and adorable and informative and I just absolutely think these pics are the sweetest, most creative and beautiful things I’ve seen in a long time. Beautiful idea, beautifully executed.”

The project also appealed to healthcare and birthing professionals. “As an OBGYN and a crafter, I need to make this ASAP!!!” said one excited follower. “Wow, Your work is amazing!” said another. “As a hypnobirthing practitioner and Aqua-natal teacher I’d love to purchase one”

Meanwhile some offered suggestions when it came to the actual birth: “As a physician I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that “sunny side up” (baby facing up/occiput posterior) is NOT the preferred or typical birthing presentation. In general, the back of the baby’s head (the occiput) is facing upward. This allows for more neck flexion when passing through the birth canal.” But even they couldn’t help but love the crocheted dolls: “Still, I’m cackling with delight at this amazing crochet project!”

There is definitely a market for such a creation, although Katie is not ready to sell her exquisite items, at least not until “the emotional attachment to the work has gone”. However judging from the many excited comments posted, it’s clear that when she is ready to let her ‘baby’ go, Katie will be inundated with orders.