Postnatal Depression and PTSD

[Erinys]

I saw a Peri-natal Psychiatrist yesterday and was diagnosed with the above following the traumatic birth of my son 7 weeks ago. He was born by EMCS following a catalogue of disasters and the operation thanks to excessive hair stroking by the Anesthetist was hugely triggering bringing back memories of my sexual assault. Now the two events (c-section/rape) have become bound together and are triggered every time I look at/interact with the baby. However the Psychiatrist essentially told me that as I was "articulate, rational and middle class" I'd get over it all by myself and thus don't need any help from the NHS.
I'm not convinced and thus am looking for any advice/suggestions which can help me actually feel like a Mother before I do something stupid.

No one can get over something like that on their own and they had no right to say that. Their job is to help people.
Sorry, I'm not sure as to how you would go about getting the help you need. I need to see someone about this same issue.
But know you are not alone in this and you deserve every bit of help you can get.

OP It sounds horrific, and should be taken seriously. Ask for a second opinion and to see a psychologist? That Psychiatrist is not helping and indeed compounding the problem by telling you to 'snap out of it'. If you are worried then you should get help, end of. Shocking. If peri-natal psychiatrist no help go to your community mental health team/GP. Post partum women are treated like silly little girls sometimes.

Other suggestion - if you can afford to, look outside of NHS as MH system is stretched to breaking point at present and having to prioritise between critical cases; which could explain Psychs ridiculous response.

Please contact the Birth Trauma Association. You can get NHS help. I did. Eventually.