Naomi Osaka shuts down pregnancy rumors while recalling ‘traumatic’ birthing experience
Tennis star Naomi Osaka reveals she “wouldn’t want many more” kids, sharing how giving birth to her daughter Shai impacted her.
After giving birth to her first child last year, Naomi Osaka has been increasingly transparent about her motherhood journey and her plans for the future. After posting a TikTok video while wearing a flowy, balloon-style top, Osaka’s followers began to speculate that the Grand Slam champion was pregnant with another child. However, Osaka quickly shut down those claims with a video response to the comment, “she’s expecting again…I wish [her] many [more]”
“I just wanna say, I’m not preggos,” she said in a TikTok posted on Sunday. “But if I was, I wouldn’t want many more, because giving birth was traumatic. But thank you, though, for your blessings.”
Since giving birth to her daughter Shai, whom she shares with rapper Cordae, in July 2023, the tennis star has been very candid about the difficulties of pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood.
“I don’t think people know how hard pregnancy is; no one really talks about it as much,” she told InStyle. “Going into it, you kind of think: Oh, it’s this beautiful journey. But it’s kind of rough.”
As previously reported by theGrio, part of what made Osaka’s first pregnancy so “rough” was testing positive for Group B streptococcus, a bacterial infection common among pregnant women. This, paired with the realities of Black maternal mortality rates, caused the 26-year-old to occasionally “freak out” during her pregnancy.
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“It was life-changing in a day,” Osaka said about motherhood at the time. “From the moment that you come back home from the hospital, everything’s different.”
“Having a baby completely destroys your pelvic floor,” she added in an interview with Glamour this year. “I was shocked because I couldn’t get up out of my bed. I had to roll sideways, and it was a really long process because, for me, my immediate way of thinking is: To rebuild this I have to do a lot of sit-ups. And I learned that that’s totally not what you’re supposed to do…I felt like I was stepping into the unknown.”
This period of adjustment also trickled into her athletic training. Recently, in an Instagram post, Osaka opened up about the recent physical disconnect she’s felt with her body while playing tennis.
“My biggest issue currently isn’t losses, though, my biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body. It’s a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn’t miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to,” she wrote in the post. “The only feeling I could liken how I feel right now to is being postpartum. That scares [me] because I’ve been playing tennis since I was 3; the tennis racquet should feel like an extension of my hand. I don’t understand why everything has to feel almost brand new again.”
Despite the difficulties, Osaka said motherhood has changed her perspective. With labor unlocking a new level of empowerment and strength, she recalled thinking, “This is the worst pain of my life, and I know that if I get through this, then everything else will feel very easy,” Osaka explained to Instyle.
“I feel so strong,” she said. “People talk about childbirth, but it’s different once you experience it. I just feel like I can do anything and nothing will bother me, and the pain tolerance has definitely increased a lot from that.”
Pouring that physical and mental endurance into her tennis training, Osaka has reportedly felt more motivated to take care of herself as she returns to her athletic career.
“As an athlete, my health has always been a priority, even more now that I am returning to tennis after having my daughter,” she told People magazine. “Becoming a mother has been a transformative experience that has shifted my perspective on wellness, both personally and professionally…I believe continuing to nurture my body and mind is what will allow me to achieve my goals on and off the tennis court.”
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