Feeling a bit depressed after my daughter’s birth!

[elizabethxxx]

Hi all!

I gave birth to my daughter last Saturday in the early hours :) we are settling into parenthood as the days go by.

the birth itself was quite traumatic. I was induced on the Wednesday by the pessary for 30 hours and stayed in the hospital, this for me was complete agony. After 30 hours they found I had not dilated at all :(. In the early hours of Friday (about 4am) I was woken up and taken down to delivery and offered a balloon catheter or oxytocin drip to try and open my cervix. They attempted the balloon which wouldn’t work as cervix was still fully closed, after looking at my medical history they decided this could be because of a previous LLETZ surgery which caused scarring on my cervix. So at 7am I was given the oxytocin drip to try and dilate, this was with gas and air for 6 hours. After the 6 hours they broke my waters and I laboured for 3-4 hours with just gas and air. Finally got the epidural in between the contractions and my screaming! At around 10pm I started pushing and lowered the epidural dose. Unfortunately as I was so dehydrated and tired from no sleep and food I couldn’t push (it turned out she was stuck). So they attempted with forceps and finally a emergency c section.

since this Iv been feeling really tearful about the whole experience, and a bit detached. We came home on Sunday evening after 5 days in the hospital. But my question is if anyone else has felt tearful or emotional from their birth experiences?! I am loving having my daughter but I so wish it had been different and I could have looked after her more after the surgery!

look forward to your thoughts

xxxx

That does sound pretty horrid. The baby blues are pretty normal, if horrible, but I do think it would be worth you speaking to the midwife at her next visit about how you are feeling. Be honest with those around you so they know to be on the look out for PND and help support you. When you feel a bit stronger, you might want to consider a birth debrief at your hospital so you can unpick what happened.

If you can talk to anyone about what happened then do so to try and make sense of it. My first birth was similar and I felt like I’d been in a car crash.
You can expect to have hormonal changes that make you feel weepy and down too so just try to get through these days the best you can. Rest when possible, eat well and drink plenty of fluids; see how you are in a couple of weeks and talk to your health visitor or GP if you think you need further support.

That sounds like an utterly rubbish experience I am sorry that you had to go through all of that

I would defo be tearful from the experience you describe!! I am no expert in anything but maybe give yourself a little bit of time to grieve the easy birth you dipped out on and ask for a birth debrief see if you can make it better for people who find themselves in a similar position.

Hi OP, sounds like you’ve been through the wringer!
My first DC was a long labour, eventually going to try with forceps but then an emergency section due to his position also.
I felt how you describe and sounds like you went through more than me. I also was tearful and about birth specifically.
One of the midwives explained to me what would have happened to my son had I not had the section and for some reason it totally snapped me out of the way I’d been feeling and I was so so grateful for the section and then cried because I was so grateful for the healthcare in this country that allowed me to have the emcs! I just wanted to include this detail to let you know it is possible your feelings on it could change because in my first few days postpartum I couldn’t imagine I’d ever have any positive feelings around it!
Also don’t know if it’s helpful but my subsequent births have been really different so if you were planning to have any more it won’t necessarily be the same birth experience.
Hope you feel better soon and get closure too xxx