Panic attacks after birth.

[ElliemackB]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone has any experience of this. Basically I had my beautiful baby boy last week and although he is here, his arrival was not very easy and we ended up being in labour for three days and ending with an emergency c-section.
All is fine and we are home now and recovering and I am perfectly ok while awake, but as soon as I doze off my throat closes up and I start having panic attacks. My husband and I have talked it through and think this is coming from the memory of after the c-section when they were sewing me up. I felt like I couldn't breath as had a reaction to something and honestly thought I was going to pass out/die 😞
I've had the total of about 6hours sleep over the past week and although I'm functioning normally I can feel
It taking its toll.
I was just wondering if anyone has experienced the same thing and how you got better. I have spoken to the doctor and she has said I need to retrain my mind, which I am trying to do but I can't help wonder how long this process is going to take.
Thank you for getting to the end if you are still reading! Trying not to waffle but feeling very alone with this at the moment. X

You can ask the hospital for a birth debrief to go through what happened and why. It might help to go over it so you can try and get past the nasty memories you are having. You are massively sleep deprived and that makes everything feel so much worse especially anxiety. Things will get easier with the baby as the weeks go by and you start to get more sleep. I would talk to your health visitor, they can refer you for CBT counselling which can help with anxiety and panic attacks if this continues. You are definitely not alone, anxiety after baby is very common and there is help out there so make sure you are not suffering in silence but these early days are so difficult at the best of times, things will get easier.

I felt very anxious and struggled with sleep after a difficult birth with my daughter. I saw a private psychologist for therapy over Skype and she was fantastic. I can send her details if you would like them. Sorry you are having a tough time that is really crap and not what you expected. It does all get much better though x

Thank you both so much. I have a visit with the midwife on Monday so I will ask about CBT and try to get some support that way. It's good to know I'm not alone in this. Xxx

You could also get in touch with the PANDAS foundation UK. It's a charity dealing with perinatal mental illness.
Don't know what is most effective with panic attacks but I think professional guidance is always helpful. They've seen it before and know how best to tackle it.
I'd also state the maybe obvious to accept any offer of practical help you can get. Not to tell you what to do with your parenting but to help around the house and maybe nurse you too if needed.
Good luck.

Hi just thought I'd say I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on 31st I ended up in theatre as she was the wrong way it was very traumatic for me plus the lack of sleep and everything I'm in a lot of pain and can hardly walk I had a massive panic attack and phoned an ambulance i was convinced I was dying now I have had a decent sleep and rested I feel better I suffer with anxiety already so everything just made it worse I'm keeping an eye on it and will mention it to my doctor if it's still there your not alone I still feel a bit shaky nervous a week later but our hormones take a while to settle down hope you feel better soon

Oh Ashpan26 my little boy was born on the 31st too. I'm so sorry to hear you are having a hard time too and glad you got help when you had a big panic attack. I think as you have done, and the other ladies have said, we need to reach out and get help from the professionals. I know this will not be a long term thing but we want to take control as soon as we can. Sending love and support xx

Hi I had a similar experience after the birth of my DS last February. I had no history of mental health problems. It was terrifying.

I think the first step you have already taken is recognising that what you are experiencing is not normal for you. I would recommend the next step is getting help from professional healthcare. I called the midwifery triage service in the middle of the night and they actually re-admitted me to hospital there and then (of course everyone's experience is different, but it was a weekend and there wasn't any community care available). Once admitted, I was referred to the perinatal mental health service, who were excellent. I hope they have a similar service wherever you are based.

Once I got help, i recovered very quickly.