LOOK: Katarina Rodriguez recalls water birth experience, introduces baby boy
Katarina Rodriguez and her partner Niño Barbers with their son Robert Joaquin. Image: Instagram/@katarinarodri
Miss World Philippines 2018 Katarina Rodriguez finally gave fans a glimpse of her son Robert Joaquin, whom she delivered in August via water birth.
The beauty queen showed herself cradling her baby on her Instagram page yesterday, Nov. 14. The child was born on Aug. 25.
“You’ll be in my heart, from this day on, now and forevermore. 4:02 a.m. of [Aug.] 25, 2021, Robert Joaquin Rodriguez Barbers stole my heart like no one has before,” Rodriguez said.
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Rodriguez also gave fans a more intimate look into her water birth by showing moments from her labor on her Instagram page, also yesterday. She and husband Niño Barbers can be seen holding hands while she endured labor in an inflatable pool at home.
She also recounted her experience in giving birth by answering the pageant question, “What is the essence of a woman?”
“What’s the essence of a woman? Her power. Power to rule her mind and her body. Power to overcome pain that feels like death but in turn births life. The power to do whatever it is she puts her mind to,” she told fans.
Rodriguez then narrated that she was not expecting she would give birth earlier than her due date, until she noticed blood coming out of her from when she took a shower.
“At around 12:30 a.m. after each contraction, I would pee then throw up. I never imagined throwing up would relieve me, but it did,” she recalled. “I told myself this kid is pushing my organs up [because] he really wants to come out and meet everyone.”
The beauty queen was in labor for about three and a half “intense” hours before her son “came swimming into our world.”
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The couple received congratulatory greetings from beauty queens and celebrities, including Kylie Verzosa, Maureen Wroblewitz, Maxine Medina and Hannah Arnold.
Rodriguez announced she was expecting her first child last August, when she was in the third trimester of her pregnancy.
Aside from winning the Miss World Philippines crown in 2018, Rodriguez is also an ambassador for Save the Children Philippines. During her stint in the beauty pageant, she spoke up on sending kids back to school and rebuilding educational facilities in Marawi, after the 2017 siege in the city. JB
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