‘How amazing are our bodies?’ Labor and delivery nurse goes viral after using CLAY and a pottery wheel to show how a woman’s cervix expands from the size of a blueberry to a BAGEL during birth
- Jenny Recotta, 36, from Virginia, is known as @thelumpymug on TikTok
- The nurse-turned-potter shared a cervical dilation demonstration using clay
- The video has been viewed more than 13 million times
A former labor and delivery nurse turned her love of making pottery into an educational moment by using clay to show how a woman’s cervix expands during birth.
Jenny Recotta, 36, from Virginia, is known as @thelumpymug on TikTok, where she shares videos of herself making birth-inspired pottery, including her series of placenta mugs.
She went viral this week after using a pottery wheel and clay to demonstrate how the cervix gradually dilates from one to ten centimeters during labor.
‘When you find out what your cervix does in labor,’ she wrote at the start of the 17-second video, which has been viewed more than 13 million times.
Jenny Recotta, 36, from Virginia, went viral on TikTok this week after using a pottery wheel and clay to demonstrate how the cervix gradually dilates from one to ten centimeters during labor
Using her fingers, she made a small hole in the clay and slowly spread it open
The hole got wider and wider, mimicking how the body uses contractions to stretch and open the cervix during labor
Using one finger, she made a small opening in the clay to show what a woman’s cervix looks like when it starts to dilate.
Throughout labor, the body uses contractions to stretch and open the cervix — the lowermost part of the uterus — to allow the baby to enter the birth canal and be born, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Recotta then used two fingers to gently open the clay from one centimeter, the size of a blueberry, to ten centimeters, the size of a bagel.
She infused some humor by setting the footage to a soundbite from Justin Bieber’s carpool karaoke session with James Corbin in 2020.
‘Immediately no, immediately no, immediately no,’ Bieber told Corbin. ‘I’m telling you right now. I’ve seen what I’ve needed to see. No. That’s not what the kids want to see. You ever seen TikTok?’
Ever wanted a visual of what happens to your cervix during birth? 1 -10 centimeters, as shown in clay? How amazing are our bodies to be able to open and birth a baby?! #childbirth #birthtok #laboranddelivery #cervicaldilation #midwivesoftiktok #doulasoftiktok #immediatelyno #epiduralplease
A woman is considered to be in active labor when she is six centimeters dilated
Cervical dilation stops at 10 centimeters, which is about the size of a bagel
The video has been viewed more than 13 million times, and many commenters were stunned by the demonstration – including a number of mothers
The choice of sound appeared to be Recotta’s way of acknowledging that some viewers, especially young ones, might find the clay visual unsettling.
‘Ever wanted a visual of what happens to your cervix during birth? 1-10 centimeters, as shown in clay? How amazing are our bodies to be able to open and birth a baby?!’ she wrote in the caption.
Recotta’s video has received more than 9,000 comments, and many viewers were admittedly shocked by the demonstration — including a number of mothers.
‘I’ve already done it once and I still can’t understand how it happened,’ one person wrote, while another added, ‘I’ve given birth twice and this still gives me the heebee jeebies.’
Someone else responded, ‘Okay but I didn’t ask to be traumatized on a random Sunday morning.’
In a follow-up video, Recotta addressed some of the less-than-enthusiastic comments. ‘Did I just provide birth control for an entire generation?’ she joked
Recotta worked as a labor and delivery nurse before she quit her job to focus on her birth-inspired pottery, including her popular series of placenta mugs
One TikTok user who just found out she was pregnant admitted that the video was ‘very unsettling’ before asking, ‘How am I gonna do this?’
After the video went viral, Recotta filmed a follow-up in which she addressed some of the less-than-enthusiastic comments.
‘Did I just provide birth control for an entire generation?’ she joked.
Recotta, who quit her job as a nurse and is now a full-time potter, told Today that she ‘did not expect’ her dilation video to go viral.
‘In some of the comments there have been a fair number of people who have been like, “Wow, this validates what I experienced and really makes me proud of what my body did,”‘ she said.
‘I just love that people can look back and be so proud of what they did to bring their babies here.’
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