To recap last week… Common emotions or sentiments experienced after a cesarean birth can be:
Depression
Post-traumatic stress disorder (According to recent research, up to 45% of moms find childbirth traumatic, and PTSD post-childbirth develops in 4% of women (with this figure rising to 18% in high-risk groups).
Feelings of failure
Feelings of guilt
Anger at themselves and their body
Social isolation
Nightmares and difficulty sleeping
Intrusive thoughts, focusing on memories of childbirth
So, you may be wondering, “How can I avoid these problems?”
The first, and probably most proactive thing you can do is to educate yourself on the options around c-sections. For more on that visit https://lolalykke.com/blogs/mamahood-manuals/everything-you-need-to-know-about-c-sections or https://lolalykke.com/blogs/mamahood-manuals/everything-you-want-and-didn-t-know-you-need-to-know-about-c-section-recovery.
Last year, I attended a birth that was described as traumatic. I reached out to my mentor to debrief and her wise words stuck with me, “some births are just traumatic”. And she’s right. Some births, if they’d happened 100 years ago, could’ve very well ended in fetal or maternal demise. That is just birth sometimes and in the case of this traumatic birth, mama feels at peace with what happened because we’d previously discussed alternative plans.
It’s important to be informed and educated on all of your options in both hospital and home setting. Being educated can often bring comfort, and potentially confidence!
If you’re a mama who’s found themselves having had an unexpected cesarean, priority right now is to take care of yourself. These are some other important things as well:
Take time your need
Build your support network
Prioritize self-care
Reach out for support, if you need it
Give yourself the support, care, and understanding you’d offer another mom in your situation. And always remember, you cannot pour from an empty cup and your mental and physical health matter just as much as that of your baby!
Next week, we’ll cover the emotional and physical healing after a cesarean birth! Stay tuned!
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