Not a great birth experience....

[DialMforMummy]

I have had a bit of shit time giving birth to DS2 a few days ago. I was in lot of pain and still feel quite raw about it. I will talk to my MW about it, but I was wondering what sort of support there was out there for people like me. I don't think I have PND because I feel fine otherwise. I only fear tearful when I think about the birth. DH took some photos, I don't even want to see them.....
Any help/advice gratefully received. Thank you.

I had a bloody awful birh experience. The maternity hospital had an after birth counselling service, where a specialist midwife went through my maternity notes with me / discusse what happened and why those decisions were made etc. They also offere 6 free counselling sessions afterwards if necessary. I personally found it useful - mainly because I could see that I wasn't making my experience bad in my head, it really was that bad, but it did help me at least live with the experience, even if I'm not over it. You could ring the local maternity hospital or ask your HV about services in your area. Also, it's not that long ago that you gave birth so be gentle on yourself.

Second the use of birth counselling. I ended up having everything I DIDN'T want in the labour and birth of my dd. the counselling gave me the facts about what actually happened and meant I could mull over the experience once and for all. I would suggest waiting a few weeks to get your head together though. I have also been treated for pnd as it was all linked in. Good luck x

Contact your local branch of NCT - they often have postnatal advisors who can offer one to one or group support. You don't have to be a member to use their services - they are a charity for supporting parents.

The local postnatal support worker was lovely to me after my difficult birth. Health visitors and midwives seemed more interested in box ticking, but the lovely NCT lady would just call for a chat and made me feel like a person.

I'm sorry to hear you had a difficult time. As mothers we carry a lot of guilt and worry when all kinds of things don't go to plan. Your little one won't bear a grudge about how they entered into the world, so don't be hard on yourself.

Try the birth counselling at your hospital - they were wonderful to me, helping sort out the ishoos I had from DD1's birth. I felt I had failed (em c-s under GA) and that I should have tried harder, and the MW went through everything while often gently saying 'They don't do major surgery for no reason you know.'

I found the birth trauma association really good - easy to find in google