“The best and most beautiful things in life cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart”
Life isn’t easy. Sometimes we go through things that completely changes us as a person and indeed our journey. Sometimes it changes things for the better, sometimes the worst and sometimes it’s both!
For me this is certainly true, when I gave birth to my first daughter it was very traumatic and left me with PTSD. Birth trauma it changed me, in fact it changed not only me but my whole life. While a lot of those changes were for the worse, my trauma has led me on a path to a place I feel I am meant to be.
One of the main things that kept me sane and anchored after my trauma was breastfeeding, while separated from my daughter in those early days expressing for her while she was in the neonatal unit gave me the fight to survive, to continue living and although I could do nothing else for her, I could provide her my milk, it was my connection to her, my lifeline.
I fought to feed her with every ounce in my body. When staff said that I would never produce enough milk due to my retained placenta and massive blood loss, we fought to prove them wrong. When doctors said I would never exclusively breastfeed her and she most likely would not latch when they removed her NG tube, we fought to prove them wrong. Prove them wrong we did and for 15 glorious months my traumatised, weak, wrecked body nourished and provided my baby with everything she needed.
The fight I had to feed my baby with no support and then seeing others struggle also with no support, drove me to wonder why families were left struggling. It led me to finding The Breastfeeding Network, training with them and then volunteering to help others. I found this greatly healing as it meant offering what I knew families needed but also built up my confidence and belief in myself. Eventually I began working for the NHS as a paid infant feeding support worker. To do my job I had to overcome my anxiety and trauma as I worked on the maternity ward and neonatal unit where I had my daughter and where for a long time I couldn’t even drive past let alone go into.
I loved my job especially working in neonatal Being able to give parents and babies the support I never had meant everything. When I saw the parents sat by their little ones incubators I remember those feelings well and how just a friendly face, a kind word and someone to talk to is often just what is needed and how it can make all the difference.
Without my trauma, without my time in neonatal it would be an unknown world to me. Without my struggle, my fight to feed my baby, would I have trained to be a support worker? I just don’t know. Yet I know it was where I was meant to be, it gave me so much, a privilege to do my job to see the difference it makes to families, to support them and be part of their journey. Now I support families with mental health and wellbeing, training in CBT, mindfulness and counselling has given me the skills needed to offer a safe place to talk, find support and build relationships during pregnancy, birth and beyond. It also means I have been able to set up services to support those who like me have been touched by birth trauma. Yes my struggle was painful in many ways, but without it maybe I wouldn’t be doing my job and be reaping all the joy it brings me.
My trauma and subsequent struggle to get help for PTSD was a very painful and a hard fight for many years. When I reflect on the struggle I have realised with time that it has been a fight that has given to me, as well as taken away. It has given me the determination to try to help others who have also had birth trauma and PTSD, reaching out to offer support. My experience drove me to train as a doula and postnatal doula which not only taught me that birth can be a positive experience and helped me in my healing, but also how to support moms to help them understand how they can trust their bodies and work with it to make birth easier and more safe.
My trauma and struggle to get help also drives me to want to change things. I feel that experiencing the bad has given me something special, a voice!
This voice is able to speak out and sometimes shout loud about the need for things to change, both in the culture of birth and postnatal care but also the need for more support for perinatal mental health. I will always seek to use that voice to speak up for those that as yet are unable to speak up, to raise awareness of what trauma is and try to make sure things change, and improve, in the care of women in birth. I will also use that voice to speak out about the importance of proper diagnosis and support for when things do go wrong.
I have been able to do this as part of the #Matexp, and the National Maternity Review that are striving to improve the care given to women and families in pregnancy, birth and postnatal. I feel privileged to be a voice for those that need support by speaking at events to help health professionals see how they can improve their practice and support families in times of need . I am trying to raise awareness of PTSD/ birth trauma and provide hope, by means of a support website, facebook and twitter page called unfold your wings. Of course I also offer nurture coaching to support nurturing your life, inner healing and growing to be uniquely You.
I also run the perinatal mental health network discussion group bringing together those giving support. Recently I’ve had the privilege of helping my local trust to set up perinatal mental health pathways for the health visiting service and community midwives. Support a bid, secure funding and the set up of a specialist perinatal mental health service. I have also set up the birth reflection service locally to provide a safe space for families to share their birth experiences.
Yes I truly believe I am where I am meant to be!
Sometimes bad things happen to us, but we can turn those experiences into opportunities to help others, change and improve things, and give a voice to those that need help and support.
Yes even trauma can lead us to something good, it provides us with a chance to make a difference and in turn helps heal ourselves.
Pretty! This was an extremely wonderful article. Thanks for providing this info.
Pretty! This was an extremely wonderful article. Thanks for providing this info.
Pretty! This was an extremely wonderful article. Thanks for providing this info.
Good on you; what a turn around! Your breastfeeding struggle especially resonate with me … my interest in supporting breastfeeding / ‘breastfeeders’ is definitely one born of my massive struggle to breastfeed. It’s wonderful when those negative situations in our lives are redeemed, and even turn out sometime to be the making of the present we enjoy. Thanks for sharing #MaternityMatters
Thank you for you lovely comments ❤️
Good on you; what a turn around! Your breastfeeding struggle especially resonate with me … my interest in supporting breastfeeding / ‘breastfeeders’ is definitely one born of my massive struggle to breastfeed. It’s wonderful when those negative situations in our lives are redeemed, and even turn out sometime to be the making of the present we enjoy. Thanks for sharing #MaternityMatters
Thank you for you lovely comments ❤️
Good on you; what a turn around! Your breastfeeding struggle especially resonate with me … my interest in supporting breastfeeding / ‘breastfeeders’ is definitely one born of my massive struggle to breastfeed. It’s wonderful when those negative situations in our lives are redeemed, and even turn out sometime to be the making of the present we enjoy. Thanks for sharing #MaternityMatters
Thank you for you lovely comments ❤️
I for one am so glad that you are where you are now. If I could take your trauma away from you I would. But I am glad you are where you are. You were a wonderful support to me when Elsie was born and I remember feeling so scared, so alone when she wasn’t feeding. Seeing her fade away before my eyes was truly terrifying and without your support I know I would have crumbled. I am so so grateful to you for your online support and I just know you are wonderful in what you do. Those mums you support are lucky to have you x x x
Thanks for linking up to #MaternityMatters and so sorry I am so late in replying x x
Thank you for such a lovely comment. It was my pleasure to give you and your lovely baby a little bit of help. Your such a lovely mum and have such a beautiful family. X
I for one am so glad that you are where you are now. If I could take your trauma away from you I would. But I am glad you are where you are. You were a wonderful support to me when Elsie was born and I remember feeling so scared, so alone when she wasn’t feeding. Seeing her fade away before my eyes was truly terrifying and without your support I know I would have crumbled. I am so so grateful to you for your online support and I just know you are wonderful in what you do. Those mums you support are lucky to have you x x x
Thanks for linking up to #MaternityMatters and so sorry I am so late in replying x x
Thank you for such a lovely comment. It was my pleasure to give you and your lovely baby a little bit of help. Your such a lovely mum and have such a beautiful family. X
I for one am so glad that you are where you are now. If I could take your trauma away from you I would. But I am glad you are where you are. You were a wonderful support to me when Elsie was born and I remember feeling so scared, so alone when she wasn’t feeding. Seeing her fade away before my eyes was truly terrifying and without your support I know I would have crumbled. I am so so grateful to you for your online support and I just know you are wonderful in what you do. Those mums you support are lucky to have you x x x
Thanks for linking up to #MaternityMatters and so sorry I am so late in replying x x
Thank you for such a lovely comment. It was my pleasure to give you and your lovely baby a little bit of help. Your such a lovely mum and have such a beautiful family. X