Hope and support for Birth Trauma & Perinatal PTSD
I’m always deeply touched every time another woman* shares her story with me, often because the level of trust that this requires, but also that sharing what awful things a person has survived is difficult and painful. I have just
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This is Joanna’s deeply moving story of her traumatic birth and shows how important it is that women are listened to and treated with dignity and respect. Please be aware that some stories may trigger difficult memories and emotions so
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“Help me, it’s like the walls are caving in.Sometimes I feel like giving up.But I just can’t.It isn’t in my blood.” Shawn Mendes “Laying on the bathroom floor, feeling nothing.I’m overwhelmed and insecure, give me something,I could take to ease
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It’s hard to talk about birth trauma, but even harder to talk about suicide. Yet I know from the women who contact me and my own experience that dealing day in, and day out, with the impact of a traumatic
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I sat in the chair feeling numb, was I really in denial? I didn’t think I was, but then I wasn’t the expert. The Community psychiatric nurse (CPN) in front of me wore an expression mixed with pity and frustration.
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I read the article, tears stinging my eyes. I blink them away and try to let my logical mind silence the thunderous beating in my chest. I look at my daughters, they are smiling sharing jokes, laughing and I wonder.
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I could barely hold the funnel to my breast. My hands, swollen and numb grasped as hard as they could, my body, weak, hardly had the strength I needed. I lay there, on the hospital bed, the noise of the
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‘May your story be a page in someone else’s survival guide’ The years have passed but the memories are etched on my mind. There are certain things you can’t erase, forever burnt into the recesses of your mind, scars that
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For any family, emotional well-being matters. When it comes to mental health the perinatal period can be a challenging time. Adjusting to life with a new baby is hard, but for some families, the transition to parenthood is complicated by
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The room was dark and my pillow was wet with silent tears. I could hear my husband breathing deeply as asleep beside me, but sleep had escaped me. I wished the hours away waiting for the light of day to
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With my eyes tightly squeezed shut all I could hear was the bleeping of the machine next to my bed that was tracing my baby’s heartbeat. I felt like was staring death in the face, I had been given a
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This is the third of three blogs looking at what matters in Birth. The previous blog looked at what women voiced about what matters to them most when it comes to their birth experience. This blog is some of the
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I lifted my eyes and looked at everyone around the room, some were colleagues, others were strangers, some had tears falling from their eyes, others looked shocked and in disbelief, and everyone was silent. Someone rushed and embraced me and
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There’s a well-known saying that ‘words can cut like a knife’. What we say can have a lasting effect on the person at the end of the words we use, our words can be uplighting or encouraging but they can
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When people think about post-traumatic stress (PTSD) they often think of a soldier, returning from battle traumatised and battered by the ravages of war and the terrible things seen and experienced. However, PTSD doesn’t only affect those affected in the
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They say that blood is thicker than water when it comes to relationships, but sometimes the support that we need doesn’t always come from the places and the people we expect, namely those that we love, but instead from those
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This is the second of three blogs. The first blog looked at the growing concerns around how we can support women to have a less medicalised birth. To find out what really matters to women in birth and what matters
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I’m feeling hopeful. Much more so than I have for the many years previously, where birth trauma was hardly mentioned and women would often have their experiences dismissed due to them being told that they should be grateful for having
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They say the road to recovery can be a long one and I know the true meaning of those words, often the road is long and bumpy, you can take a few wrong turns and even be directed the wrong
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I’m recovered…….mostly. Now and then however PTSD likes to give me reminder that it is still with me lying dormant, like a monster that tries to awake and again take me hostage. Sometimes it rears its head, waking from its
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“I have never dealt with anything more difficult than my own mind”. My daughter’s birthday is always mixed emotions for me, a day to celebrate the light she brought into my life but it was always bittersweet because it was
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Today is World Mental Health Day. Many people are sharing their stories about the reality of living with mental health. Why is this important? Because by sharing our stories and uniting our voices we can be the change needed to
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We sometimes go through things in life that completely change us as a person. Sometimes it changes things for the better, sometimes the worst and sometimes it’s both! For me this is certainly true, when I had my first daughter
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The room is beautiful. Soft hues of yellow shine light like prisms of sunlight. The bed is big and inviting the type you want to fall into, its softness enveloping you like a warm embrace. The walls whisper words of
Read moreDespite the fact that birth trauma seems to have more awareness, inside my heart feels heavy. I spend my days listening to the stories of those affected by the birth of their babies and see the pain that is etched
Read moreThere has been a lot of talk recently about continuity of carer in maternity services and the difference it can make it women, babies and families. The National Maternity Review report, “Better Births’ said that ‘some midwives had commented positively
Read moreI wipe the dust from the top of the flowery box. It had to happen, the bringing out of the baby photos to groans of embarrassment from my daughter, to the delight of her new boyfriend. The pictures laid out
Read moreDear You I know You don’t remember me. I am but one face You have cared for over many springs, summers, autumns and winters, just a number on a wristband, one of many that graced your path. But you see
Read moreEveryday I sit with another woman. The pain is etched across her face, tears fall from red swollen eyes and words tumble, revealing the trauma that is leaving its mark. Birth trauma is in many ways finally be recognised, more
Read moreMy hands burned, my arms heavy and painful. I stop and try to catch my breath. My heart pounding. I close my eyes I can do this, my baby needs me and so I grabbed again the wheels of my
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